Outreach and busy days

Another couple of busy days with the Beluga Bits project, but I wanted to talk about the public outreach of the project before diving into my time ‘on’ the Beluga Boat!

The experience as a citizen scientist and other users is very easy, interesting, and so much fun! Both through Zooniverse and the Explore sites, you can learn about when the boats are going out in Hudson Bay to collect your snapshots, ensure the boat is going out in the comment section, and ask any questions there also. The project is advertised through these sites, as well as on the parent organization of Polar Bears International. While the information on the Polar Bear International site is years old, it is still relevant and informative. They also have posted some information on their Facebook page. However, with social media having such an impact, I think they could reach a lot more participants this way, either through a designated Beluga Bits page or including more information about the project and beluga season on these sites.

I think Beluga Bits has a positive impact on conservation, as it is such an easy way for those at home to be involved. It further increases our connection to a species or way of life (field research) that we would otherwise need to physically visit. There are lots of resources to learn more information about the project in general or belugas on the site or again in the comments section. So far, they have had a couple of videos for additional information and I think this is a great source for reaching more people in addition to getting specific information out. There have also been chats on the belugas boats that provide current information, which is a very special component of ‘attending’ these trips. Any kind of improvement in this arena would be additional training, as I had previously mentioned.

This project is still very new, as it just started in 2016, so is mostly research based, versus finding results to goals made. This means that the current goals are changing and adapting to what they are seeing and finding these past years. While the goals have stayed the same, the data is providing additional questions to add to the goals. This being said, there is still a large component that is engaging the participants, such as the participants that have returned each season. These seasoned volunteers very readily help others with questions and working through understanding what is going on. I think this focus is great for now but I would imagine it changing and adapting as the project continues and goals are being met. One thing I may add, if I was in charge would be getting people out on the beluga boats when they depart each day. It could be advertised as a research trip, a small group of people could help point out and take pictures of whales further away or possibly get different angles of the above deck camera. OTherwise, I feel their current setup for education and outreach meets their needs for the research they are conducting.

Beluga boat journal:

July 29 - 11:45pm PST

It was a really beautiful day in Churchill! The Beluga boat left Churchill and went out into the estuary to look for belugas. The water is still very murky so, I imagine the whales will have to be very close in order to see them there. I watched the above deck camera for most of the trip. The captain noted there was a helicopter tour earlier in the day and the riders mentioned seeing the belugas from above, so they’re out there! After being on the water for a little, the captain noted there was a group of belugas on the port side (opposite side of the camera) that was keeping a good pace with the boat, a mixed group of adults and juveniles. We were actually able to see a young calf, based on their coloration.

The first image is of the calf seen on the water today and the graphic below describes how we could have identified that. The graphic was posted by someone in the comments during the boat tour, which was very helpful and shows the public engagement involved.

July 30 - 2pm PST

The beluga boat tour started at 12:45pm PST but today on board they were having a Live Chat with the captain, Kieran and guest Dave Alcorn called “What is it like seeing belugas in different places across the Arctic”. The captain started out by saying that the Above Deck camera was not working (they mentioned it was being fixed), so we were only watching the Underwater camera and listening to the chat. Kieran started the chat talking about how the belugas may be using the warm water of the estuary, noting that the whales are molting and the temperature of the water may help with this, as well as the warmth of the water being nice for the newborn calves. The shallow water of the Hudson Bay (an average depth of 330ft) gives them protection against orca predation. In northern waters where there is sea ice, the belugas have adapted to maneuvering around due to their lack of a dorsal fin. The orca whales have a very large dorsal fin and therefore have a more difficult time swimming through the sea ice. The belugas in the Western Hudson Bay population have about ⅔ of the beluga population, roughly 56,000 individuals. In a normal summer season, there are more boats in the bay due to other tour companies and research trips and the belugas become accustomed to approaching the boats as the season continues. So because of the lack of boats and earlier in the beluga season, the whales are slower to come up to the Beluga Boat this season. The talk is summed up talking about the whales in Churchill. The whales in this population are slightly smaller than others, possibly due to prey availability? Traditionally, male belugas are 25% larger than females. Males are between 3.5-5.5m in length and weigh roughly 1100-1600kg while females are 3.0-4.1m in length and weigh between 700-1200kg. It is thought that because the whales are eating during the spring on their way to Churchill, they are at their heaviest and largest size here.

The talk was about 30 mins and then I stayed and watched the underwater and above deck cameras on the beluga boat (they got it fixed!). The bay was pretty foggy this afternoon but we were still able to see some whales!