Using a multidisciplinary approach to expand knowledge of stock structure in Cumberland Sound and Western Hudson Bay beluga (Delphinapterus leucas)

Funding period: 2022-2025
Lead: Cortney Watt
Total GRDI funding: $185,725

The Cumberland Sound and Western Hudson Bay beluga are considered separate management stocks. However, traditional knowledge suggests multiple stocks of beluga visit Cumberland Sound and there is admixture between the two beluga stocks. Beluga stock delineation has been defined by summer aggregations and mitochrondrial DNA genetic markers. Mitochondrial markers can only detect the stock that an individual's mother belonged to and do not allow for discrimination of hybrid offspring. Therefore, we plan to integrate data from multiple lines of evidence for defining stocks. Photographic-identification, satellite tagging, and diet analyses are useful techniques to assess stock structure on shorter ecological time-scales than using molecular markers alone. By combining population genomics, alongside telemetry, photographic-identification, and diet data we will expand our current knowledge of beluga stock delineation within Cumberland Sound and Western Hudson Bay belugas.