Whalecam

Underwater webcam captures the behaviour of beluga whales visiting Hudson Bay.

10:23 18 August 2016

An underwater webcam is being used by scientists to capture the behaviour of beluga whales visiting the Hudson Bay. Scientists are streaming underwater footages that are made available to the public via the Internet.

 

The camera, which is attached to the underside of a boat in a remote estuary in Canada, obtains new details about beluga whales that gather around Hudson Bay each summer.

 

Dr Stephen Petersen, head of conservation and research for Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo, said: 'As far as I know, there's no other investigation of beluga from under the water on this scale,'

 

'A lot of the stuff that's been done before is from observers on top of the water. It doesn't really give us a good sense — belugas don't spend a lot of time on top of the water.' 

 

Dr Petersen, along with his wife, biologist Dr Meg Hainstock, hope that they can gather a trove of photographs of individual whales that will help them catalog the population as they try to answer questions about the animals behaviour.

 

The underwater camera was switched on July 15 and has since averaged about 2,500 viewers a day, according to Explore.org spokesman Mike Gasbara.