Occurrence and general behavior of balaenopterid cetaceans summering in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 1363-1376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy L. Edds ◽  
J. Andrew F. Macfarlane
Keyword(s):  
Abundant Species ◽  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
The Past ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Minke Whales ◽  
Field Season ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Blue Whales

Baleen whale movements were monitored from a hillside on the north shore of the St. Lawrence Estuary from 28 June to 27 September 1979. No diurnal or tidal relationships were apparent for the two most abundant species, the minke and finback. Single minke whales were seen almost daily. Adult pairs were only seen on four dates, and no adult-calf pairs were observed. Twenty-two small minkes were observed; three were possibly 1st-year calves. Finbacks occurred singly and in groups, particularly later in the field season. Resightings of distinctive finbacks indicate that adult pairings are temporary. One finback had been seen in the area in 1973–1975. Adult–calf pairs and seven single juveniles were also seen. Observations of finbacks pursued by whale watchers provide evidence that some regulation of the rapidly growing whale-watching industry may be warranted. Blue whales and humpback whales were seen far less frequently than minkes and finbacks. The relative abundances of minke, finback, and humpback were similar to 1973–1974 in the same area: however, blue whales were seen far more frequently in the past.

Aerial surveys of cetaceans in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1995 and 1996

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 1529-1550 ◽  
Author(s):  
MCS Kingsley ◽  
R R Reeves
Keyword(s):  
Humpback Whales ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Line Transect ◽  
Balaenoptera Acutorostrata ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Minke Whales ◽  
Fin Whales ◽  
Pilot Whales ◽  
Blue Whales

Aerial line-transect surveys of cetaceans were flown in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in late August and early September of 1995 and in late July and early August of 1996. Systematic north-south transects were spaced 15prime of longitude apart. In 1995, the study area comprised the entire Gulf, divided into three strata for analysis; 69% was flown. In 1996, a single stratum covered only the north shore shelf; 75% of the design was flown. The survey platform was a light high-winged aircraft with bubble windows flown at 213 m (700 ft). Ten species were seen. Minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), Atlantic white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus), and harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) yielded enough sightings to support good estimates, while fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris), and long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) yielded few sightings and unreliable estimates. Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) and belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) were seen too rarely to support any analysis. The tenth species was a small delphinid, not positively identified. Minke whales were ubiquitous, but more common in the northern strata. We estimated about 1000 in the whole Gulf in 1995 and about 600 in the northernmost stratum in 1996 (these numbers, and those following, are uncorrected for visibility bias). We estimated about 12 000 Atlantic white-sided dolphins in the Gulf in 1995, but in 1996 saw hardly any, perhaps because we flew the survey earlier. Harbour porpoises (12 000 in 1995 and 21 000 in 1996) were most numerous in the northern stratum, but were also widely distributed at lower densities in the central and southern Gulf. White-beaked dolphins (2500 in 1995 and 2500 in 1996) occurred only in the Strait of Belle Isle and the extreme northeastern Gulf. We estimated a few hundred fin whales in the northern and central strata and about 100 humpbacks, mostly in the northeast. Long-finned pilot whales were only seen in the southeastern Gulf, surveyed only in 1995 (about 1500).

scholarly journals Do Barrow's Goldeneyes, Bucephala islandica, Breed South of the St. Lawrence Estuary in the Gaspé Peninsula, Eastern Canada?

2010 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 179
Author(s):  
Jean-François Ouellet ◽  
Pierre Fradette ◽  
Isabel Blouin
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Bucephala Islandica ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary

We report the first observations of Barrow's Goldeneyes south of the St. Lawrence estuary in typical breeding habitat during the breeding season. Until recently, the confirmed breeding locations for the species in Eastern North America were all located on the north shore of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The structure of psoluthurin A, the major triterpene glycoside of the sea cucumber Psolusfabricii

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 1465-1471 ◽  
Author(s):  
François-Xavier Garneau ◽  
Jean-Luc Simard ◽  
Odette Harvey ◽  
John W. Apsimon ◽  
Michel Girard
Keyword(s):  
Triterpene Glycoside ◽  
Sea Cucumber ◽  
Chemical Data ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Extraction And Purification ◽  
Physico Chemical ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary

The isolation of the major triterpene glycoside from the sea cucumber Psolusfabricii obtained from the north shore of the St. Lawrence estuary is described. Versatile extraction and purification procedures were used and physico-chemical data is presented in support of structure 1 for psoluthurin A.

scholarly journals La mer de Goldthwait au Québec

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 61-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Claude Dionne
Keyword(s):  
Quebec City ◽  
The South ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Marine Invasion ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Upper Limit ◽  
South Shore ◽  
Anticosti Island ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary

The Goldthwait Sea is defined as the late- and post-Glacial marine invasion in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf east of Québec City. In Québec, this sea has submerged an area of about 25 000 km2. The largest areas submerged are the north shore of the St. Lawrence between Les Escoumins and Blanc-Sablon, the south shore between Levis and Tourelles, and the Anticosti Island. The upper limit of the Goldthwait Sea varies from place to place. The Goldthwait Sea began 14 000 years ago and land emergence is still in progress, since the pre-Wisconsin marine level has not been recovered yet. For a better chronology, this long interval needs to be subdivided. Three main periods have been recognized: Goldthwaitian I, II and III. However, a geographical subdivision is also needed. Numerous shorelines were observed at various elevations throughout the area formely submerged by the Goldthwait Sea. However, only a few shorelines are well developed and extensive, and correlations between former shorelines are difficult to establish. Only three levels are widespead and common to the Estuary and parts of the Gulf. The isostatic recovery has been rapid during the first three thousand years after déglaciation of the area: about 75%.

Ecology of Benthic Epifauna of the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence: Factors Influencing Their Distribution and Abundance on Buoys

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 979-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Fradette ◽  
Edwin Bourget
Keyword(s):  
Water Temperature ◽  
Mytilus Edulis ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Freshwater Species ◽  
Lower Estuary ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
North Shore ◽  
Hiatella Arctica ◽  
The North ◽  
Saguenay Fjord

The invertebrate fauna on 200 buoys moored in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence was sampled from May through December from 1975 to 1976. A total of 45 species (13 sessile, 32 motile) was collected. The distribution of the most abundant sessile species (Obelia longissima, Mytilus edulis, Hiatella arctica, Balanus crenatus, and Balanus balanoides) was studied in detail. Numbers of organisms and biomass decreased markedly on passing from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Lower Estuary and from the Lower Estuary to the Upper Estuary. Numbers of species showed stepwise diminution along with a stepwise increase in turbidity, while community densities decreased progressively with salinities. No sessile species and four motile species were observed in the riverine portion of the Estuary. In the upper portion of the Estuary, freshwater species were found along the south shore whereas euryhaline species were observed on the north shore. Water outflow from the Saguenay Fjord coincided with the limit of penetration or with discontinuities in the distribution of all sessile species within the Estuary. In the Upper Estuary, patches of M. edulis, B. crenatus, and the hydroids O. longissima and Clytia sp. were observed in regions of upwelling. Similarly, in the Gulf, O. longissima was very abundant on buoys near Mingan Islands where there is also an upwelling. The relatively high abundance of hydroids where conditions were generally unfavorable for settlement of sessile organisms was due to their capacity to colonize substrata from the budding of a few individuals. Mytilus edulis was the most abundant species elsewhere in the Gulf, except along the Lower North Shore. Low water temperature influencing larval development of M. edulis in this region best explains low community densities. Variations of growth indices (maximum lengths and mean weights per individual) for M. edulis were related to water temperature and to relative abundance of suspended organic matter in seawater.Key words: benthic epifauna, St. Lawrence Estuary, Gulf of St. Lawrence, ecological distribution, biomass, population density, Mytilus edulis, Balanus crenatus, B. balanoides, Hiatella arctica, Obelia longissima, buoys

Food of Double-crested Cormorants,Phalacrocorax auritus, in the Gulf and Estuary of the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 635-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Rail ◽  
Gilles Chapdelaine
Keyword(s):  
Phalacrocorax Auritus ◽  
Benthic Species ◽  
Sand Lance ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Capelin Mallotus Villosus ◽  
Predatory Fishes ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary ◽  
St Lawrence River

Between 1994 and 1996, a total of 613 Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) regurgitations were collected at four colonies located in the St. Lawrence Estuary and one colony on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The diet comprised a great variety of prey, with fishes well represented. Capelin (Mallotus villosus) and sand lance (Ammodytes sp.) together constituted most of the diet, (i.e., frequency of occurrence 66%, numerical frequency 68%, and volume 50%). Sand lance, which were nearly absent in regurgitations from the Estuary, were important in the diet of cormorants from the North Shore of the Gulf. At the North Shore colony, capelin were much more abundant in the diet in 1996 than in 1995, which correlates with independent fisheries data. In contrast to the results of previous studies of this cormorant's diet, our results show a preponderance of schooling fishes over benthic species. We suggest that this reflects a recent trend towards an increase in the abundance of schooling fishes in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf. Overfishing of predatory fishes and oceanographic factors could be involved.

Habitat use and movements of postfledging American black ducks (Anas rubripes) in the St. Lawrence estuary, Quebec

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 2100-2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Clugston ◽  
Jerry R. Longcore ◽  
Daniel G. McAuley ◽  
Pierre Dupuis
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Hunting Season ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Anas Rubripes ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
American Black ◽  
The Mean ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary

We used radiotelemetry to determine habitat use and movements of 38 female juvenile American black ducks (Anas rubripes) on the north shore of the St. Lawrence estuary, Quebec, from 28 August to 15 November 1991. Ducks separated into three groups based on habitat use: inland, estuarine, and those using a mixture of habitats. Ducks using mixed habitats used the greatest variety of habitat types, flew the greatest distances and most often between night roosts and day foraging areas, and were unlikely to be shot. The mean distance flown between night-use and day-use areas for all ducks increased nearly 50% after the hunting season began (overall mean = 6104 m, range 1500 – 26 384 m). Mean home range size was 27.6 ± 6.5 (SE) km2. Ducks exhibited stronger fidelity to wetlands used at night than to those used during the day. Ducks that were shot spent a high percentage of their time on the estuary (90.1 ± 7.4%) and exhibited high fidelity to a day-use area before the hunting season (73 ± 7.3%).

Les erratiques de dolomie à Rivière-Blanche, côte sud de l'estuaire maritime du Saint-Laurent : un indicateur de transport glaciaire et glaciel

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 1239-1255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Claude Dionne
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Granite Gneiss ◽  
Canadian Shield ◽  
Ice Flow ◽  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
South Shore ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Northwestern Area

At Rivière-Blanche, a locality on the south shore of the lower St. Lawrence estuary, the clayey and rocky shore zone is largely covered by stones of various sizes and lithologies, from local and far-distant sources. A survey exceeding 31 000 boulders indicates that 31% are Precambrian clasts (granite, gneiss, anorthosite, etc.) from the Canadian Shield located on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, 40 km from Rivière-Blanche, and 69% are Appalachian lithologies, mainly (45%) sandstone and graywacke. There are also 1.5% of dolostone erratics, a lithology not widespread in the Canadian Shield nor in the Appalachians. Of the 1242 clasts of the various varieties of dolostone erratics observed, the grey coral (Cladopora) dolostone erratics are restricted to the Rivière-Blanche area, whereas many other varieties are common to both shores of the St. Lawrence estuary. The most likely far-distance source is the Proterozoic Mistassini sedimentary basin, while a few varieties such as the coral dolostone erratics are from the Appalachian Siluro-Devonian formations, of which the nearest outcrops are located in the northwestern area of Lake Matapedia, 25–30 km south of Rivière-Blanche. Whatever their source, the dolostone erratics were first transported by a late Wisconsinian regional ice stream before being released by icebergs in the Goldthwait Sea. The coral dolostone (Clapodora) erratics provide additional evidence for a northward ice flow between Lake Matapedia and Rivière-Blanche during an early phase of deglaciation of the St. Lawrence Valley after the formation of an Appalachian ice divide located approximately at the latitude of Lac-au-Saumon.

II.—Notes on the Pleistocene of the North-West Territories of Canada, North-West and West of Hudson Bay

1894 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 394-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Burr Tyrrell
Keyword(s):  
Geological Survey ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
North West ◽  
The Past ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
South West ◽  
North West Territories

In the extreme northernmost part of Canada, lying between North Latitudes 56° and 68° and West Longitudes 88° and 112°, is an area of about 400,000 square miles, which had up to the past two years remained geologically unexplored.In 1892 the Director of the Geological Survey of Canada sent the writer to explore the country north of Churchill River, and south-west of Lake Athabasca;in1893 the exploration was continued northward, along the north shore of Athabasca Lake

scholarly journals Increased proximity of vessels reduces feeding opportunities of blue whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 351-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Lesage ◽  
A Omrane ◽  
T Doniol-Valcroze ◽  
A Mosnier
Keyword(s):  
Lawrence Estuary ◽  
St Lawrence Estuary ◽  
Blue Whales
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