Back to Baffin: Tracking Bowheads

Sarah Fortune began researching bowhead whales in the fjords around Pangnirtung—a hamlet on Baffin Island, Nunavut—in 2012. Fortune, a Dalhousie assistant professor of oceanography, is studying the potential impacts of climate change on the diets of bowhead whales. Her team includes Inuit biologists and field technicians, physical and chemical oceanographers, marine biologists, and whale ecologists. 

As noted in our article in the last issue of Tula Quarterly, ​​Hakai Institute videographer and drone operator Katrina Pyne joined Fortune’s project for part of the summer of 2023; her drone videos allowed the team to visually track whale behavior, determine age classes, and identify particular individuals. 

This collaboration was extended in the summer of 2024 when Hakai Institute geospatial scientist Keith Holmes joined Fortune’s team in Pangnirtung, providing further drone-operation and data-collection assistance. 

Once again, an arsenal of high-tech gadgets was deployed to gather data from the whales, including 22 tracking tags. A dozen of these were long-term tags that will help provide information on the location and diving behaviors of several bowheads for years to come. 

Although data analysis is still in progress, early findings suggest significant changes in the whales’ environment, including potential displacement of bowheads by killer whales in one region of the study area.

Research and data collection were conducted under DFO Permit 24/25 1021 in collaboration with the Whale Ecology and Conservation Laboratory at Dalhousie University.