Alekseeva Ya.I., Shpak O.V., Gorbunov S.S. 2019. The beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) catches in the White, Barents, and western Kara seas from 1930 based on original sources // Russian J. Theriol. Vol.18. No.1: 20–32 [in English].
Yaroslava I. Alekseeva [a-ja@list.ru], K.A. Timiryazev State Biological Museum, Malaya Gruzinskaya 15, Moscow 123242, Russia; Olga V. Shpak [ovshpak@gmail.com], Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, Leninsky prospect 33, Moscow 119071, Russia; Svyatoslav S. Gorbunov [svy-gorbunov@yandex.ru], independent researcher, Moscow, Russia.
doi: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.18.1.03
ABSTRACT: The work is based on an analysis of archival documents containing quantitative information on harvests of beluga whales in the White, Barents, and western Kara seas from 1930. Also, information is provided on the possible places where the documents containing data of beluga whaling could still be preserved. The probable causes of the reduction in catches and abundance of beluga whales in the coastal waters of the study areas, observed from the late 1960s, are discussed.
KEY WORDS: beluga whale, Delphinapterus leucas, commercial harvest, White Sea, Barents Sea, Kara Sea, archival documents.