The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi

Critical and important habitats: The relatively uniform and widespread circumpolar
distribution of ringed seals implies that there are no areas that are
critical for the total population. Any disruption of fast ice can, however,
have strong influence on local nursing ringed seals in spring.
Harbour seal, Phoca vitulina
Distribution and numbers: The harbour seal habitat is the coastal zone. These
seals have only inhabited the Greenland waters during the interglacial period
and they are relatively few compared to the other Arctic seal species.
They concentrate in colonies on land during breeding and moulting, and
their link to coastal waters and strong site fidelity toward certain haul-out
sites during breeding and moulting have made them vulnerable to hunting.
They give birth in June on sandbanks in fjords or on small islands off the
coast. Up until the 1950s harbour seals were relatively common in the assessment
area, but hunting has driven them to near extinction (Rosing-Asvid
2010 ). In the recent decade only three concentrations of harbour seals have
been registered in the assessment area by the Greenland Institute of Natural
Resources. One is on the sandbanks near the Kangerlussuaq airport
(67˚00´N; 50˚45´W) where seven harbour seals were seen in 2009. Hunters
have reported another concentration of 60-100 seals about 70-80 km upstream
the meltwater river, Majoqqaq (65˚53´N; 50˚38´W). These seals might,
however, have moved elsewhere as they have not been observed since 2007.
The third location is sandbanks in Alangorlia (63˚37´N - 50˚32´W) where
about 20 seals have been observed in both 2009 and 2010. The winter distribution
of these seals is unknown (Rosing-Asvid 2011).
Conservation status: Harbour seals are listed as critically endangered on the
Greenland Red List.
Sensitivity: The known concentrations of harbour seals are two sites in the
bottom of deep fjords and one upstream in a river. These areas are not likely
to be affected by off shore oil exploration. It is, however, possible (and likely)
that unknown colonies of harbour seals exist on remote offshore islands
that might be more affected by oil spills.
Critical and important habitats: Harbour seals show strong site fidelity to
breeding or moulting locations.
4.8.3 Whales, dolphins and porpoises (order Cetacea)
Tenna Kragh Boye, Malene Simon, Fernando Ugarte (GINR) & Kasper Johansen
(AU)
The order Cetacea, which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises, is divided
into two sub-orders: Mysticeti (baleen whales) and Odontoceti (toothed
whales). As their English name clearly indicates, the main difference between
baleen whales and toothed whales is that the former use baleen plates
hanging from the roof of their mouths to catch their prey, while the later
have teeth. There are also general differences in their residency and migration
patterns, with most baleen whales showing well defined seasonal migrations
between breeding and feeding grounds. Most relevant for evaluating
the impact of human activities, baleen whales and toothed whales differ
in the frequency ranges of the sounds used for communication, navigation
and feeding. Baleen whales emit low frequency calls (10-10,000 Hz), audible
over distances of tens of kilometres (Mellinger et al. 2007). In contrast,
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