Size-at-age relationships as discriminators of white whale (Delphinapterus leucas) stocks in the eastern Canadian Arctic

Abstract

White whales harvested by Inuit at Arviat on western Hudson Bay, Pangnirtung on Cumberland Sound and Grise Fiord on the north side of Jones Sound were sampled for analysis of size and age in 1984-87. The sampling sites are thought to represent western Hudson Bay, Southeast Baffin and High Arctic stocks of white whales, respectively.

Males were longer than females at all locations. White whales from western Hudson Bay were significantly shorter as adults than white whales from the other two locations. Analysis of published data showed that eastern Hudson Bay white whales are also significantly smaller than Cumberland Sound whales. Differences in asymptotic length between whales from Cumberland Sound and Jones Sound, and between whales from eastern and western Hudson Bay, were not significant.