Portrait of endangered beluga whales in Quebec

Each spring, once winter has released its icy grip and the waters are clear of ice, enormous blue whales enter the Gulf of St Lawrence in Eastern Canada. They travel hundreds of kilometres into the St. Lawrence Estuary, where they find a real treat in store! Here, the deeper ice-cold saltwater from the Atlantic carries upstream great swarms of krill - a favourite food for blue whales. This area is also home to the southernmost beluga whale population on the planet. Sadly, these two species have more than a feeding ground in common: both are endangered.

The plight of the belugas in the St. Lawrence is of particular concern. A hundred years ago, at the beginning of the 20th Century, there were an estimated 5000 belugas in the St. Lawrence. Today, their numbers have declined to around 1000. Hunting (which was prohibited in the area in 1979), is the main historical reason behind this dramatic decline, but today, pollution poses the biggest threat to their recovery. For over half a century, the St. Lawrence Estuary has been a dumping ground for industrial effluents, herbicides, fertilisers and other toxic waste. In spite of recent efforts to reduce pollution, the St. Lawrence belugas are still highly contaminated.

In April 2002, the blue whale officially joined the beluga on the Canadian list of endangered species. Past exploitation is also responsible for the decline of this species. Their actual numbers in Canadian Atlantic waters are believed to be in the low hundreds and there are no reliable data on the recent trends.

Blue whales and belugas, along with fin whales, minke whales, humpback and occasional sperm whales and dolphins, attract over 300,000 whale watchers each summer to the St. Lawrence Estuary, in the newly established Saguenay—St.-Lawrence marine park. In an attempt to halt the degradation of the area and offer a lifeline to these endearing whales, scientists and researchers have joined forces with environmental and ecotourism bodies to raise awareness of the problem and work towards a better future for the whales and their habitat.

WDCS has recently joined a coalition - which includes the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), Destination Quebec, Air Transat, Discovery Channel and Canusa, a German tour operator - to support conservation efforts in the St. Lawrence Estuary. Funds raised by WDCS, and also a whale-watching trip to the St. Lawrence Estuary offered by Canusa, are helping to fund vital conservation work being carried out in the area by GREMM (“Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals.” See below).

This year, WDCS has been part-funding a project by GREMM which directly involves whale-watching tour operators in a series of programmes aimed at better understanding the whales and enhancing the educational value of the whale watching. The project includes the pursuit of long term photo-identification programmes on belugas, fin whales and blue whales, and the publication and distribution of a weekly bulletin (printed and electronic) to members of the industry, marinas and yacht clubs of the region. The bulletin, “Portrait of a Whale”, presents up-to-date information on the presence and behaviour of whales, portraits of whales photo-identified in the Estuary, information concerning scientific activity taking place, and general information articles on the species present in the area and on related conservation issues.

By consolidating the partnership between researchers, groups and agencies dedicated to conservation, and members of the St. Lawrence whale-watching industry, this project will encourage greater adherence, both to conservation objectives and new regulations governing whale-watching activities at sea (“The right way” See box). Our hope is that an effective symbiosis can be created between the tourism industry, government and marine mammal conservation in order to give the St Lawrence whales a fighting chance in the 21st Century.

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GREMM (Group for the Research and Education on Marine Mammals) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1985. It is dedicated to scientific research on the marine mammals of the St. Lawrence and to providing education on the conservation of the marine environment. GREMM currently focuses its conservation efforts upon belugas, blue and fin whales: all species which are classified as endangered or threatened in Canada.

Beluga work includes research into the social structure, use of habitat and effects of anthropogenic noise on belugas in the St. Lawrence. GREMM is also studying habitat use by fin whales during their summer stay in the lower St. Lawrence Estuary. In addition to this, GREMM also monitors the impact of whale-watch vessels upon the behaviour of cetaceans in the area. This research has fed into the development of the whale-watching guidelines in the Saguenay St. Lawrence Marine Park.

“The right way”

On March 12th 2002, Parks Canada announced the adoption and implementation of the “Regulations Respecting Marine Activities in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park”. These regulations represent a first in Canada. They are aimed at protecting whales from disturbance by observation activities at sea. The development of the regulations involved a concerted approach: cruise operators, the scientific community as well as tourism, economic and social advocates from the region, all participated with the governments of Quebec and Canada in developing the regulations.

The new regulations are comprised of two parts. The first describes the conditions for the issuance of permits, which applies to cruise operators in particular. The second defines permitted speeds and minimum approach distances. to be respected, as well as various rules for safely approaching the animals. It is important to note that belugas, which are representatives of an endangered population, must be excluded from whale-watching activities.

These regulations apply to the 1138 km2 covered by the Marine Park situated at the confluence of the Saguenay Fjord and the St. Lawrence Estuary. Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations regulate the entire zone outside the Marine Park. This Ministry is in the process of revising existing regulations to render them more apt to protect marine mammals in the St. Lawrence. For now, whale watching outside Marine Park boundaries is conducted with respect to a code of ethics on a voluntary basis.

Author: Nicolas Entrup

WDCS is the global voice for the protection of whales, dolphins and their environment