DL3026

Strong waves are rocking the Bleuvet, our main research boat. Today, we’ll be attempting to place an acoustic beacon on a beluga to record its communications and movements. However, in such swells, approaching belugas will not be easy. So we’re going to see if conditions are better sheltered by the cliffs of the Saguenay Fjord. Good news for us, there are belugas in the area. Sitting on top of the boat, the research assistant uses binoculars to count the individuals: there are at least 30 of them, with several young and one or two calves. The herd is divided into several small groups. Some are all adult males, others all youngsters and females. We start photographing them, while Michel Moisan, our senior technician, prepares his pole and beacon in case a beluga comes close enough to the boat to equip it. Alas, even if we manage to recognize DL9039, he remains too far away for us to put the temporary spy on him.

Today is the first day of the team’s research season on board the Bleuvet! We are attempting to tag a beluga in order to record its communications and its behaviour. It is in this context that we cross paths with DL9039 in the company of around 30 other individuals, including Pascolio and Dimitri. One beluga even approaches to check out our research vessel, at which point we have the opportunity to tag it!

Our small tag is equipped with a transmitter that emits a series of beeps when it surfaces. With the help of an antenna and a receiver, we visually search for the beluga whose ascents to the surface are consistent with the sound signals being picked up by our receiver. All while keeping a good distance so as not to alter its behaviour.

After a few hours, a series of continuous beeps indicates that the tag has fallen off its back. We locate it by following its signal strength and recover it to extract the precious data it contains. The latter will be used for research by Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Véronique Lesage and her team.

The GREMM’s research boat – the Bleuvet – is off the coast of Les Escoumins. We’re observing what we initially believe to be a herd of eight individuals, before we realize that there are actually 15 of them! Amongst them are a handful of adults and a few very pale gray animals, including DL9039.

The animals are moving in every direction to the point that they appear to be swimming in circles. A few individuals appear at the bow of the boat before diving and re-emerging at the stern; their dives are short. What are they doing? Their behaviour is difficult to make sense of. Nevertheless, their proximity to the boat allows us to take two biopsies! In these couple of milligrams of fat hides a secret to their DNA.