Isabella Bay, Baffin Island: An Important Historical and Present-day Concentration Area for the Endangered Bowhead Whale (Balaena Mysticetus) of the Eastern Canadian Arctic

A late summer concentration of bowheads (Balaena mysticetus) at Isabella Bay, Baffin Island, was studied during 1983-88. The general results of the field study are presented and integrated with historical research and artifactual evidence of British whaling. Bowheads were observed from shore on virtually every day of adequate visibility in late summer, early fall of 1984-88, but in 1983 only two whales appeared. Peak numbers occurred in September, when as many as 68 whales were counted on one day. The whales congregated in specific areas corresponding to significant underwater topographic features. Most feeding took place in one of two deep (>200 m) troughs and most social activity occurred on a shallow bank (<30 m). Earliest arrivals were large subadults that engaged in social-sexual activities on the bank; adults arrived later and fed in deep troughs. Migrants from the north arrived in October. The mean length of 83 whales, measured photogrammetrically, was 14.4 m; 89% were >13 m long, which is about the minimum size of sexual maturity. ... Interactions of killer whales with bowheads were observed twice. About one-third of the bowheads bear killer whale scars. Whaling literature indicates that bowheads on the east coast of Baffin Island, called rocknosers, were segregated in late summer from those in the High Arctic archipelago. This population was exploited mostly after 1859 with the advent of steam power, in an operation called rocknosing. Isabella Bay was a significant port of operation during this last phase of the industry; the whalers were strategically positioned to hunt large whales in offshore troughs late in the season. Other locations with similar characteristics on the east coast of Baffin are identified from Inuit lore and historical literature.

Natural History and Conservation of the Greenland Whale, or Bowhead, in the Northwest Atlantic

One of the longest-living mammals, the Greenland whale or bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) is specialized to filter small crustaceans, especially Calanus copepods, from barren Arctic seas. Brought to near extinction by commercial whaling, the North Atlantic 'meta-population' remains at less than 5% of its former abundance, and none of its three constituent stocks has shown demonstrable recovery during the last century. Two of these stocks, the Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay populations, occur in coastal waters of the Eastern Canadian Arctic during summer. Each of these two stocks numbers in the low hundreds and exists in isolated groups segregated by age and sex, showing strong fidelity to essential habitats. A skewed age distribution, predation by killer whales (Orcinus orca), hunting, net entanglement, tourism, climate change, habitat loss, and inbreeding suppression are some of the factors that may affect the bowhead's recovery. We need local and historical knowledge to understand the bowhead's natural history. Together with scientific data, such know ledge is also useful in evaluating the status of the species and prescribing a management plan. A recovery plan must employ the precautionary principle, both within the international 'meta-population' context and at the sub-population level; it must take a historical view and seek to protect abandoned habitats. Canada has conducted whaling activities that violate international agreements and diminish the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission.La baleine boréale ou baleine franche (Balaena mysticetus), l'un des mammifères qui vit le plus longtemps, est spécialisée pour filtrer les petits crustacés, des copépodes, Calanus, pour la plupart, vivant dans les mers arctiques peu peuplées. Amenée au bord de l'extinction par la chasse commerciale à la baleine, la "métapopulation" de l'Atlantique Nord se maintient à moins de 5 p. cent de son abondance passée, et aucun des trois stocks qui la composent n'a montré un rétablissement ferme au cours du siècle dernier. Deux de ces stocks, la population de la baie de Baffin et celle de la baie d' Hudson, se trouvent en été dans les eaux côtières de l'Arctique canadien oriental. Chacun d'eux comprend quelques centaines d'individus, répartis en groupes isolés selon l'âge et le sexe, qui démontrent une fidélité marquée pour les habitats essentiels à leur survie. Une asymétrie de la distribution par âge, la prédation par les épaulards (Orcinus orca), la chasse, l'enchevêtrement dans les filets, le tourisme, le changement climatique, la perte d'habitat et la dépression consanguine sont au nombre des facteurs qui pourraient influencer le rétablissement de l'espèce. Le savoir local et le savoir historique sont tous deux nécessaires pour comprendre l'évolution naturelle de la baleine boréale. Couplés aux données scientifiques, ces savoirs sont en outre utiles dans l'évaluation de l'état de l'espèce et la mise sur pied d'un plan de gestion. Un plan de rétablissement doit faire appel au principe de prudence à la fois dans le contexte international de la "métapopulation" et au niveau de la sous-population; il doit adopter une vision historique et chercher à protéger les habitats délaissés. Le Canada a procédé à des activités de chasse à la baleine qui enfreignent les ententes internationales et diminuent l'efficacité de la Commission baleinière internationale

Historical Data Sources on the Morphometry and Oil Yield of the Bowhead Whale

Historical data sources on the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) provide the means to statistically examine the relationships of body and baleen size and oil yield. These data demonstrate a linear relationship between length of the whale and baleen length, with no apparent differences between males and females. Since baleen length was a standard measure of size, it is possible to compare sizes of whales taken on different whaling grounds with the sizes of living whales today. A quadratic regression provides the best fit for baleen length versus oil yield, but a linear regression is best for baleen weight versus oil yield. Commercial oil returns may be useful in examining the evolution of the whaling industry and aspects of population segregation of the bowhead.

Summer Diet of the Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus) in the Canadian High Arctic

Stomach contents of 34 bearded seals taken in three High Arctic localities (Grise Fiord, Pond Inlet and Clyde) during the summers from 1978-1980 were examined. At least 12 species of fish were present but sculpins (Cottidae) and arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) comprised the bulk of the diet. Eelpouts (Lycodes spp.) and polar cod (Arctogadus glacialis) were also ingested in considerable amounts. In 15 of 19 stomachs containing > 1 kg food, fish contributed > 90% of the wet weight. The whelk Buccinem and the shrimp Sclerocrangon boreas accounted for most of the invertebrate component of the diet. Clams, cephalopods, anemones, sea cucumbers, polychaete worms and other invertebrates occurred in small amounts. The largest measured weight of stomach contents was 7.6 kg from a seal that had fed heavily on arctic cod. There were no significant differences amongst the three localities in the amount of food ingested; however, the proportions of arctic cod and sculpins varied considerably among localities. Bearded seals fed on the available size range of arctic cod but were limited to the smaller sculpins (<200 g), eelpouts (<200 g) and polar cod (<350 g).Key words: bearded seals, Canadian High Arctic, dietMots clés: phoques barbus, nord de l'Arctique canadien, régime alimentair

Photographic Reidentification of a Bowhead Whale in Davis Strait

An adult bowhead whale photographed at Isabella Bay, Baffin Island, on 28 September 1986 was reidentified from a photograph taken off West Greenland on 10 April 1990. The "recapture" distance was about 460 km across Davis Strait. The recapture is consistent with historical knowledge of the seasonal distribution of bowhead whales and is supportive of the hypothesis that bowheads circulate within the Baffin Bay - Davis Strait area as part of a discrete stock.Key words: Balaena mysticetus, seasonal distribution, stock discreteness, Baffin Bay - Davis Strait, photographic identificationMots clés: Balaena mysticetus, répartition saisonnière, différenciation du groupe, baie de Baffin-détroit de Davis, identification par clich&eacute

A Distinctive Large Breeding Population of Ringed Seals (Phoca hispida) Inhabiting the Baffin Bay Pack Ice

Aerial surveys in June and July, 1978 and 1979, documented an unexpectedly large population (at least 417,000) of ringed seals, some with pups, inhabiting the pack ice of Baffin Bay. Pack-ice seals are smaller than their fast-ice counterparts and have a different diet and gut parasite load. Age and productive data, although limited, indicate that the offshore seals are a normal breeding population. Pack-ice seals probably mix with fast-ice seals in coastal areas during the brief open-water season but morphological and ecological differences suggest that the populations are reproductively isolated. This study prompts reconsideration of the importance of offshore pack ice to ringed seals and, therefore, to the coastal hunting economy of Inuit in Greenland and Baffin Island.Key words: ringer seals, Baffin Bay, pack ice, distribution, population discreteness, managementDes inventaires aériens effectués en juin et juillet, 1978 et 1979, ont documenté une population importante d'au moins 417 000 phoques annelés, certains accompagnés de jeunes, habitant le pack de la baie Baffin. Les phoques du pack sont plus petits que ceux de la banquise côtière et ont un régime alimentaire et des parasites intestinaux différents. Des données sur l'âge et le reproduction, quoique limitées, indiquent que les phoques au large des côtes suivent un cycle de reproduction normal. Les phoques du pack se mêlent probablement à ceux de la banquise dans les régions côtières durant la brève saison d'eau libre mais les différences morphologiques et écologiques suggèrent que les populations se reproduisent peut-être indépendamment l'une de l'autre. La présente étude encourage une reconsidération de l'importance du pack chez les phoques annelés et ainsi, de son importance dans 1'économie côtière des Inuit chasseurs du Groenland et de l'île de Baffin.Mots clés: phoque annelés, baie Baffin, banquise, distribution, isolation reproductrice de la population, contrôle de la populatio

WISP genes are members of the connective tissue growth factor family that are up-regulated in Wnt-1-transformed cells and aberrantly expressed in human colon tumors

Wnt family members are critical to many developmental processes, and components of the Wnt signaling pathway have been linked to tumorigenesis in familial and sporadic colon carcinomas. Here we report the identification of two genes, WISP-1 and WISP-2, that are up-regulated in the mouse mammary epithelial cell line C57MG transformed by Wnt-1, but not by Wnt-4. Together with a third related gene, WISP-3, these proteins define a subfamily of the connective tissue growth factor family. Two distinct systems demonstrated WISP induction to be associated with the expression of Wnt-1. These included (i) C57MG cells infected with a Wnt-1 retroviral vector or expressing Wnt-1 under the control of a tetracyline repressible promoter, and (ii) Wnt-1 transgenic mice. The WISP-1 gene was localized to human chromosome 8q24.1-8q24.3. WISP-1 genomic DNA was amplified in colon cancer cell lines and in human colon tumors and its RNA overexpressed (2- to >30-fold) in 84% of the tumors examined compared with patient-matched normal mucosa. WISP-3 mapped to chromosome 6q22-6q23 and also was overexpressed (4- to >40-fold) in 63% of the colon tumors analyzed. In contrast, WISP-2 mapped to human chromosome 20q12-20q13 and its DNA was amplified, but RNA expression was reduced (2- to >30-fold) in 79% of the tumors. These results suggest that the WISP genes may be downstream of Wnt-1 signaling and that aberrant levels of WISP expression in colon cancer may play a role in colon tumorigenesis

The First VERITAS Telescope

The first atmospheric Cherenkov telescope of VERITAS (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) has been in operation since February 2005. We present here a technical description of the instrument and a summary of its performance. The calibration methods are described, along with the results of Monte Carlo simulations of the telescope and comparisons between real and simulated data. The analysis of TeV $\gamma$-ray observations of the Crab Nebula, including the reconstructed energy spectrum, is shown to give results consistent with earlier measurements. The telescope is operating as expected and has met or exceeded all design specifications.Comment: Accepted by Astroparticle Physic

A connectome of the adult drosophila central brain

The neural circuits responsible for behavior remain largely unknown. Previous efforts have reconstructed the complete circuits of small animals, with hundreds of neurons, and selected circuits for larger animals. Here we (the FlyEM project at Janelia and collaborators at Google) summarize new methods and present the complete circuitry of a large fraction of the brain of a much more complex animal, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Improved methods include new procedures to prepare, image, align, segment, find synapses, and proofread such large data sets; new methods that define cell types based on connectivity in addition to morphology; and new methods to simplify access to a large and evolving data set. From the resulting data we derive a better definition of computational compartments and their connections; an exhaustive atlas of cell examples and types, many of them novel; detailed circuits for most of the central brain; and exploration of the statistics and structure of different brain compartments, and the brain as a whole. We make the data public, with a web site and resources specifically designed to make it easy to explore, for all levels of expertise from the expert to the merely curious. The public availability of these data, and the simplified means to access it, dramatically reduces the effort needed to answer typical circuit questions, such as the identity of upstream and downstream neural partners, the circuitry of brain regions, and to link the neurons defined by our analysis with genetic reagents that can be used to study their functions. Note: In the next few weeks, we will release a series of papers with more involved discussions. One paper will detail the hemibrain reconstruction with more extensive analysis and interpretation made possible by this dense connectome. Another paper will explore the central complex, a brain region involved in navigation, motor control, and sleep. A final paper will present insights from the mushroom body, a center of multimodal associative learning in the fly brain

A connectome and analysis of the adult Drosophila central brain

The neural circuits responsible for animal behavior remain largely unknown. We summarize new methods and present the circuitry of a large fraction of the brain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Improved methods include new procedures to prepare, image, align, segment, find synapses in, and proofread such large data sets. We define cell types, refine computational compartments, and provide an exhaustive atlas of cell examples and types, many of them novel. We provide detailed circuits consisting of neurons and their chemical synapses for most of the central brain. We make the data public and simplify access, reducing the effort needed to answer circuit questions, and provide procedures linking the neurons defined by our analysis with genetic reagents. Biologically, we examine distributions of connection strengths, neural motifs on different scales, electrical consequences of compartmentalization, and evidence that maximizing packing density is an important criterion in the evolution of the fly’s brain