Citizens of the St. Lawrence, stay alert! Report any dead or vulnerable marine mammal to 1-877-7baleine

Carcasses that Speak Volumes

Every carcass reported represents a treasure trove of information for research and conservation. Network volunteers or partners head to the site of the stranding to collect data such as the species, sex, and size of the animal. These data are used to track marine mammal populations in the St. Lawrence. It is notably thanks to such beluga mortality studies that in December 2014, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) evaluated the population of St. Lawrence belugas as “endangered”.

Since 1982, belugas have been the focus of a special sampling program spearheaded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. If the carcasses are fresh, they are sent to the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (FMV, Saint-Hyacinthe) for a comprehensive necropsy. This examination helps determine most notably the cause of death, the pathologies involved and contamination levels of various toxins. “It’s a bit as if we’re shown a photo and then we’re able to write the narrative of the animal’s death”, sums up veterinarian Stéphane Lair, director of the St. Lawrence beluga health monitoring program. “It’s one of the longest-lasting monitoring programs for a population of marine mammals,” he adds.

If the carcass is in too poor a condition to be transported, the St. Lawrence National Institute of Ecotoxicology (SLNIE) performs in situ sampling to determine at the very leas