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 BELUGAS IN
SVALBARD
Found in the Arctic and sub-arctic regions
of Russia, Svalbard, Greenland, and North America, the Beluga Whale
or White Whale is the most common specie of cetacean in the Spitzbergen.
Scientists estimate the population of belugas in Svalbard at 5,000
to 10,000.
Adult males measure 5 meters, with a maximum length of 5.3 meters,
and weigh 1.5 tons. Adult belugas are almost completely white. Calves
are dark gray. Belugas are extremely sociable mammals that live, hunt
and migrate together in pods, ranging from a few individuals to hundreds
of whales.
In Svalbard, it is possible to observe small groups of 10 to 30 belugas
swimming close to the coasts.
On the first photo, a female bear and its bear cub are attracted by
a carcass of beluga near the island Danskoya. On the other photos,
a group of 200 belugas came in Isfjord in september 2005, close to
Diabasodden at the entry of Sassenfjord.
The Greenland Whale or Bowhead Whale almost disappeared from Svalbard
since the period of commercial hunting, during the 17th and 18th
centuries.
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Click
on the photos to enlarge - Photos taken in Spitzbergen |
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BELUGAS
IN SPITZBERGEN  |
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Beluga
range map
Beluga
on Wikipedia
Rare
whale visits Svalbard - July 21, 2006
In July 2006, a Greenland Whale (Bowhead Whale) has been seen in Longyearyen,
near the pier Bykaia. The whale, which measured 15 meters long stayed
in the Adventfjord Bay for around 12 hours and was also seen by passengers
of a tourist vessel.
The Greenland Whale is believed to be nearly extinct in Salbard. In
2006, researchers from the the Norsk Polarinstitutt and the University
of Oslo searched for Greenland whales in the area between Greenland
and Svalbard, and they counted only 20. The population of these Whales
numbered as many as 25,000 in Svalbard before commercial hunting since
the 1600s.
This observation was reported by Aftenposten.
Aftenposten
- News from Norway
Greenland
Whale on Wikipedia
Spitzbergen
West and Sassenfjord
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