International conservation strategy for the endangered bowhead whale of Baffin Bay.
Principal Investigator: Finley, Kerry J. (2)
Licence Number: 12352
Organization: KJ Finley Ecological Research
Licensed Year(s): 1994 1993 1992
Issued: Jan 01, 1993
Project Team: J. Goodyear, D. Fissel plus several students from Clyde River

Objective(s): To determine numbers, distribution and local movements of bowheads that utilize Isabella Bay in early autumn; to provide detailed data on the activity budgets and surface-dive parameters of bowheads and to correlate this with patterns of habitat use; to document the feeding patterns of bowheads and relate this to oceanographic phenomena and the population dynamics and densities of copepods; to study the movements of bowheads in Baffin Bay in general.

Project Description: Since 1983, Word Wildlife Fund has supported research on the bowhead of Isabella Bay. This research, representing the first ever conducted on this species, has identified Isabella Bay to be one of the most important habitats for bowhead in the eastern arctic. The whales use the area to feed, socialize and shelter them from killer whales. The researcher will continue his study of bowhead behaviour in the region of Isabella Bay.