Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region
Tags: contaminants, biology, wildlife, beluga whale, marine mammals, tissue sampling, whale
| Principal Investigator: | Romano, Tracy (1) |
| Licence Number: | 12470 |
| Organization: | University of Rochester |
| Licensed Year(s): |
1993
|
| Issued: | Jan 01, 1993 |
| Project Team: | R. Tarpley, J. Housel, B. Solky |
Objective(s): To collect the brain and lymphoid organs from harvested beluga in order to better understand the nervous and immune systems; to investigate how contaminants affect the health of this species; to investigate the possible link between disabled nervous systems and the incidence of beaching or stranding in this and other species of whales.
Project Description: This research will examine the nervous (i.e., brain) and immune systems of beluga by collecting these tissues from harvested animals for laboratory analyses. This study will help to determine how contaminants affect the health of belugas. In addition, the data collected may lead to a better understanding of why whales strand themselves on the shoreline as it has been suggested that beached whales may have damaged nervous systems.
