lady in Eschscholtz and Spafarief Bays, and others along the 

 northwest coast. White whales have been reported in the 

 southern Chukchi Sea in February," which may mean that 

 some overwinter in the Chukchi Sea as well as the Bering 

 Sea. 



The Beaufort Sea probably serves mainly as a summer 

 feeding area for white whales migrating from the Bering and 

 Chukchi Seas. Overwintering in the Beaufort and Chukchi 

 Seas, should it occur (Bailey and Hendee 1926), would most 

 likely be associated with the occurrence of some open water 

 during mild ice years. 



The Bering Sea population of white whales in 1976 ex- 

 ceeded 9,000. Some 6,000 migrants from U.S. waters were 

 estimated in the Canadian Beaufort Sea (Fraker footnote 23; 

 Fraker et al. 1978) at the same time that perhaps 3,000 ani- 

 mals were estimated in U.S. waters along the northwest coast 

 of Alaska (Point Lay to Wainwright), Kotzebue Sound, Nor- 

 ton Sound, and Bristol Bay." J. Burns (footnote 44) esti- 

 mated the Alaska population size of white whales to be near 

 16,000 individuals. 



Migration 



The spring and summer migration route of white whales in 

 the eastern North Pacific follows inshore and offshore leads in 

 the pack ice along the west and north coasts of Alaska, through 

 the Bering and Chukchi Seas, and corresponds closely to the 

 bowhead migration (Braham and Krogman footnote 2). Klein- 

 enberg et al. (1964) suggested that as the migrating animals 

 move through the Bering Strait, some continue along the north 

 coast of the Chukotka Peninsula. The bulk of the population 

 follows open leads east to Banks Island in Canada's Northwest 

 Territories (Braham and Krogman footnote 2; Fraker footnote 

 23; Fraker et al. 1978). What percentage of the Alaskan popu- 

 lation^) is represented in the western Chukchi and Beaufort 

 Seas is unknown, as is our knowledge of how many white 

 whales from the Soviet Union join those in United States 

 waters to migrate into Canadian waters each spring. 



Spring migration occurs from March to early July, when 

 white whales follow leads along the flaw zone throughout the 

 pack ice, using offshore and nearshore leads. Moving north, 

 white whales leave the Bering Sea in March and April (Bailey 

 and Hendee 1926; Kleinenberg et al. 1964; Johnson et al. 

 1966; Braham and Krogman footnote 2). Those summering 

 in Canadian Arctic waters pass through the Chukchi Sea in 

 middle to late April (Fiscus and Marquette footnote 18; Bra- 

 ham and Krogman footnote 2) and cross the Beaufort Sea 

 from May to June (Sergeant and Hoek 1974; Fraker footnote 

 23). Braham and Krogman (footnote 2), Fraker et al. (1978), 

 and Braham et al. (1979) proposed that the eastbound mi- 

 grants follow the 30-100 km offshore (varying annually) open 

 lead system northeast to Banks Island, Northwest Territories, 

 Canada. The animals then move south along the west side of 

 Banks Island to Amundsen Gulf and on to the Mackenzie 

 Delta (Fraker footnote 23). Whether they migrate directly to 

 Banks Island or to Amundsen Gulf consistently each year 



probably depends on ice conditions. The earliest recorded 

 sightings of white whales near Banks Island were made in 

 mid-May (Stefansson 1943; Fraker et al. 1978; Braham et al. 

 1979); however, two bowheads were sighted on 8 May 1978, 

 near the northwest tip of Banks Island (Braham et al. 1979), 

 nggesting that white whales may reach Banks Island even 

 before May. R. Goose 45 saw 10 white whales off Holman 

 Island in late April 1979, earlier than in most years (1979 was 

 an unusual ice year because breakup was 1 wk-1 mo earlier 

 than expected). Our preliminary results indicate that some 

 white whales precede bowheads in their northward migration 

 by perhaps 1-2 wk, but again, this may vary among years. 



The timing of the autumn migration west from Canada to 

 United States and Soviet waters is not well documented. De- 

 parture from the Canadian Beaufort Sea commences in Au- 

 gust and September (Sergeant and Hoek 1974; Fraker et al. 

 1978) with passage into the Bering Sea in December (Burgess 

 1973) or during the time of advancing ice. White whales 

 begin to appear regularly near St. Lawrence Island in the 

 Bering Sea from November to January and, on occasion, as 

 early as September and October as do some bowheads. 46 

 Though scant information is available on the autumn migra- 

 tion, Fraker et al. (1978) believed that those white whales 

 summering in Canadian waters return to the Bering Sea, and 

 that few, if any, move east into the eastern Canadian high 

 Arctic. 



Identity of Stocks 



From aerial surveys of the Bering Sea and western Arctic 

 Ocean since 1976, a composite of white whale sightings was 

 made (Fig. 31). In March and April white whales were seen 

 moving from the west central Bering Sea along the east coast 

 of Siberia and north along the northwest coast of Alaska. The 

 movements of the whales was directional — north. It is not until 

 May and June, when the pack ice breaks up along the coast, 

 that we began seeing white whales in areas where they appear 

 to summer: The northwest coast from Point Lay to Point Bar- 

 row, Kotzebue Sound, and Norton Sound. Sightings of white 

 whales in Bristol Bay in April, May, and June indicate that 

 these animals may be resident, or return to Bristol Bay after 

 having moved south with the advancing ice in the winter. 



Animals observed in Bristol Bay, Norton Sound, or Kotze- 

 bue Sound during the summer may be either 1) late migrants 

 of a single Bering Sea population that remain in the shallow 

 waters or 2) stocks of an Alaskan and/or Soviet population. 

 It seems improbable that any major isolation would take 

 place, because there are no isolating barriers except, perhaps, 

 the pack ice; however, this is only seasonal. Except in 1977 

 and 1978, very few white whales have been seen along the 

 northwest coast of Alaska offshore during the summer; some 

 isolation between components of the Bering Sea population 

 thus occurs from May to November. Little work has been 

 conducted during the summer in the U.S. Arctic Ocean. If 

 those whales observed in the southern and east central areas 

 of the Bering Sea were to intermix with the main body of the 

 population to the north, then they could do so for 4 mo, 



"C. Ray. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., pers. commun. 20 April 

 1976. 



"J. Burns. Alaska Depanment of Fish and Game. Fairbanks, Alaska, pers. 

 commun. 7 November 1977. 



"R. Goose, Holman Island, Northwest Territory, Canada, pers. commun. 23 

 May 1979. 

 "D. Harry. Gambell. Alaska, pers. commun. 25 July 1978. 



