Movements of Beluga Whales (Delphinapterus leucas, Cetacea, Monodontidae) of the Western Coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula

The movements of three mature beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) tagged by satellite transmitters off the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula were analyzed. Before the formation of the ice cover, beluga whales remained off the western coast of Kamchatka and in Shelikhov Bay. As ice was formed and spread, beluga whales used increasingly deeper water areas. The data obtained indicate the possible residence of belugas in the eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk and prove the genetic isolation of this beluga population from that of the western Sea of Okhotsk.