Life on the Edge: Uncut Scenes 7 of 8

Two Belugas in the Opening of the Ice

By summer, an adult beluga has migrated thousands of kilometers through ice-strewn waters after overwintering at the edge of the pack ice …and it shows. These two whales bear the scars of navigating through sea ice where a thick skin can help push through thin ice to breath. Occasionally, beluga whales can become trapped in the ice.

For such an animal supremely adapted to life in Arctic seas this came as a surprise to me when I learned of this phenomenon. Indigenous peoples of the North term these entrapments sassat, and they appear to occur when a rapid change in wind direction or in temperature suddenly freezes the sea and whales become entrapped, often congregating together around remaining ice holes, their activities keeping them open...at least for a time.

In some cases, large numbers of beluga whales can perish in these entrapments and quite often they attract the attention of predators. There are reports from bush pilots and biologists conducting aerial surveys of seeing polar bears from great distances and different locations converging on these breathing holes and hunting belugas.

ABOUT GREG

Before coming to FAU’s Harbor Branch, Greg earned both his bachelor’s degree and his doctorate degree from University College Dublin in Ireland, researching badgers, a small mammal related to weasels, minks and otters. So, how did he end up in Florida researching whales thousands of miles away? Once Greg graduated with his doctorate degree, he moved to California in search of jobs. After facing several rejections, one person at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in San Diego said he had a small project on belugas no one was working on. He was shocked at such a unique opportunity to work with marine mammals. “I pounced on that,” he says. “And the rest, as they say, is history.”

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