Sightings Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Photo-ID Project Newsletter Spring 2019

Sightings
Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Photo-ID Project Newsletter
Spring 2019 

Photos taken under General Authorization, Letter of Confirmation No. 481-1759, MMPA/ESA Research Permit #14210 and #18016 .  Do not reproduce without permission.

Happy Spring!
       Greetings CIBW fans.  We hope that everyone had a wonderful winter and that you are enjoying this lovely spring weather.  With spring in the air, it is time to start thinking about belugas again. The Kenai River area has been enjoying regular sightings throughout the winter and spring, and the CIBW Photo-Id Project has started receiving recent beluga sightings in Turnagain Arm. The 2019 sightings map is up on our website so go check it out and make sure to enter any beluga sightings of your own. Just click here: website.  You can also see sightings maps from 2017 and 2018 to compare patterns.
      This winter the CIBW Photo-ID Project Team was busy working on data and reports.  All of our latest work, including the poster presented at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium, can also be seen on the website, so go check it out.  We look forward to hearing from you all soon and please share this with other beluga fans!
 
Happy Beluga Viewing!
The CIBW Photo-ID Project Team

And the winner is.....
The first newsletter of the year also brings it with it the announcement of this year's winner in our "Name a beluga" contest.  This is our way of saying thank you for contributing your beluga sightings to the CIBW Photo-ID Project and the sightings map. Every year we randomly choose a contributor to name a beluga.  Last year Kelly Miller was the winner and she named the beluga pictured below "Darla".  "Darla" was first photographed in 2010 by the photo-id team and was photographed last season as well.  So without further ado, this year the winner is.....Brian McGurgan.  Congratulations Brian, we will be in contact with you about naming your beluga.

Save the Date for the 2019 Belugas Count!
The 2018 Belugas Count!  was another success.  There were viewing stations in Homer, Kenai and all along Turnagain and Knik Arms turning in around 100 beluga sightings.  Thank you to everyone that participated and make sure to mark your calendars for 2019!
 
Save the date for the 3rd anual Belugas Count!  Event. Saturday, September 21, 2019
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Anchorage, Alaska
Viewing locations around Cook Inlet and beluga festival at the Alaska Zoo
Free and open to the public!  No registration is required.  Hosted by NOAA Fisheries and partners.  
For more information check out the Belugas Count! website.
 
 

Other Beluga News
The CIBW Photo-ID Project attended and presented at the 2nd International Workshop on Beluga Whale Research & Conservation at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut March 12-14, 2019.  Many beluga-minded colleagues gathered to share traditional knowledge, advances in husbandry, field biology and the latest science impacting beluga whales.  The topic of extreme climate change in Svalbard was presented, and climate change is a topic that hits home here in Alaska.  While we don't have a link to the presentation from the workshop, we do have a link to a phys.org article that talks a little bit about the work being done to understand how belugas and other arctic species are adapting to climate change.

Link to phys.org article

 
Beluga in the Spotlight 
 
This issue's beluga in the spotlight is Blackbrow.  Blackbrow is a presumed female Cook Inlet beluga that is also a presumed mother based on the number of photographs taken of her with an accompanying calf.  Blackbrow has been photographed by the photo-id team since 2005.  She gets her name from the distinct dark line on her right-side.  The photo below was taken of Blackbrow's right side near Bird Creek in Turnagain Arm by photographer Marc Webber.  Annually, Marc Webber and Deborah Boege-Tobin bring their Semester-by-the-Bay class to Anchorage to view and photograph the belugas along Turnagain. Marc and his group consistently share their wonderful photographs like the one below with the photo-id project.  Thank you Marc and Deb for your continued contributions to the CIBW Photo-ID Project.
 
If you have any photos you would like to contribute to the photo-id project, please send them our way!
 
Photo below courtesy of Marc Webber

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