Aerial photos from the Aug 12th, 2015 survey of the Western Hudson Bay beluga population

PURPOSE:

An aerial survey of the Western Hudson Bay beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) population was conducted on August 12th, 2015 to provide a population estimate. Surveys were flown in a DeHavilland Twin Otter (DH-6) fitted with four bubble windows and an optical glass-covered camera hatch at the rear underbelly of the plane. A Global Positioning System (GPS) unit logged the position, altitude, speed, and heading of the aircraft each second. Surveys were initially flown at a target ground speed of 100 knots (185 km/h), and target altitudes of 1,000 ft (305 m) for visual surveys and 2,000 ft (610 m) for photographic surveys. After the second day of flying, the target ground speed was adjusted to 110 knots (204 km/h).

Complete coverage of the two photographic strata was achieved using a Nikon D810 camera fitted with a 25 mm lens. The camera was mounted at the rear of the aircraft and directed straight down with the longest side perpendicular to the track line. The camera was connected to a GPS unit to geo-reference photographs, and to a laptop computer to control exposure settings and photo interval. At an altitude of 2,000 ft (610 m), the 25 mm lens captured a ground area of approximately 875 m x 585 m. The photograph interval was set to maintain an overlap of 20 to 40 % between consecutive photos, and with a transect spacing of 600 m, the lateral overlap between photos from adjacent transects was approximately 30 %.

DESCRIPTION:

Aerial surveys of summering Western Hudson Bay (WHB) beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) were conducted on August 12th, 2015 to update the previous population abundance. The survey area comprised five strata (three visual and two photographic) encompassing high use areas around three river estuaries where recurring aggregations of WHB beluga are found during the summer months. This metadata covers the photographic data related to the survey. The photographic surveys completely covered high density aggregations in the Churchill River and near the mouth of the Seal River.

Date ( RI_366 ): 2015-08-06

Date ( RI_367 ): 2024-06-25

RI_419

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Steve Ferguson ( Research Scientist )

501 University Cres , Winnipeg , Manitoba , R3T 2N6 , Canada

204-229-3109

RI_409

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Marianne Marcoux ( Research Scientist )

501 University Cres , Winnipeg , Manitoba , R3T 2N6 , Canada

204-228-8042

RI_415

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Marianne Marcoux ( Research Scientist )

501 University Cres , Winnipeg , Manitoba , R3T 2N6 , Canada

204-228-8042

RI_419

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Cory Matthews ( Research Scientist )

501 University Cres , Winnipeg , Manitoba , R3T 2N6 , Canada

RI_412

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - AARD Data Request DRAA Demande de donnés (DFO/MPO)

501 University Cres , Winnipeg , Manitoba , R3T 2N6 , Canada

Purpose: An aerial survey of the Western Hudson Bay beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) population was conducted in August 2015 to provide a population estimate. Surveys were flown in a DeHavilland Twin Otter (DH-6) fitted with four bubble windows and an optical glass-covered camera hatch at the rear underbelly of the plane. A Global Positioning System (GPS) unit logged the position, altitude, speed, and heading of the aircraft each second. Surveys were initially flown at a target ground speed of 100 knots (185 km/h), and target altitudes of 1,000 ft (305 m) for visual surveys and 2,000 ft (610 m) for photographic surveys. After the second day of flying, the target ground speed was adjusted to 110 knots (204 km/h).

Complete coverage of the two photographic strata was achieved using a Nikon D810 camera fitted with a 25 mm lens. The camera was mounted at the rear of the aircraft and directed straight down with the longest side perpendicular to the track line. The camera was connected to a GPS unit to geo-reference photographs, and to a laptop computer to control exposure settings and photo interval. At an altitude of 2,000 ft (610 m), the 25 mm lens captured a ground area of approximately 875 m x 585 m. The photograph interval was set to maintain an overlap of 20 to 40 % between consecutive photos, and with a transect spacing of 600 m, the lateral overlap between photos from adjacent transects was approximately 30 %.

Status: completed; complété RI_593

Maintenance and update frequency: notPlanned; nonPlanifié RI_542

Keywords

delphinapterus leucas
Western Hudson Bay
beluga
stock assessment
aerial survey
aerial photography

NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords Version 6.0.0.0.0 NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords Version 6.0.0.0.0 ( RI_528 )

Biological Classification
Animals/Vertebrates
Toothed Whales
Aquatic Ecosystems
Oceans

Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus Thésaurus des sujets de base du gouvernement du Canada ( RI_528 )

Aerial photography
Aquatic wildlife
Biological diversity
Fisheries resources
Habitats
Marine biology
Oceans
Whales

DFO Areas Zones du MPO ( RI_525 )

Arctic Ocean
Hudson Bay and James Bay

Use limitation: Open Government Licence - Canada (http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada)

Access constraints: license; licence RI_606

Use constraints: license; licence RI_606

Classification: unclassified; nonClassifié RI_484

Spatial representation type: grid; grille RI_636

Metadata language: eng; CAN

Character set: utf8; utf8 RI_458

Topic category

Biota

Begin date: 2015-08-06

End date: 2015-08-19

Description: Western Hudson Bay

Reference system identifier: https://epsg.io / EPSG:4326

Distribution format

GeoTIF ( n/a )
JPG ( n/a )
CSV ( n/a )

RI_414

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Marianne Marcoux ( Research Scientist )

501 University Cres , Winnipeg , Manitoba , R3T 2N6 , Canada

204-228-8042

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File identifier: bae8ae76-f10f-11ee-9fd5-9fdd270ae16f XML

Metadata language: eng; CAN

Character set: utf8; utf8 RI_458

Hierarchy level: dataset; jeuDonnées RI_622

Date stamp: 2025-03-17T19:41:53.013Z

Metadata standard name: North American Profile of ISO 19115:2003 - Geographic information - Metadata

Metadata standard version: CAN/CGSB-171.100-2009

RI_414

Government of Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Marianne Marcoux ( Research Scientist )

501 University Cres , Winnipeg , Manitoba , R3T 2N6 , Canada

204-228-8042

Overviews

2015_WHB_Aug.jpg

Spatial extent

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Not available

Simple

Overviews

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Keywords

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