Beluga Whales in the Naknek River Citizen's Science Project[]
Beluga whales can typically be seen on the Explore.org live cam located on the Naknek River in King Salmon, AK from April to early May. We encourage all cam viewers to participate in the Beluga Whales In The Naknek River Citizen’s Science Project.
Project Instructions:[]
It is very easy and anyone can participate. You can commit as little or as much time to it as you wish. You will need to sign up for an account on http://www.inaturalist.org/ to participate by entering your observation. You can help the NPS gain a better understanding of the natural history of the beluga whales.
Here are the instructions:
In April and May, beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) swim into the Naknek River from Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea to feed on schools of rainbow smelt and salmon smolt. The whales enter the river on incoming tides, but little is known about the factors that influence when they enter the river. If the whales arrive look for their large white backs to break the surface of the water at the same time they spout. If they are close to the cam, it will be easy to see. The whales typically enter the river in pods. Generally when the whales are present in the river the gulls can be observed swarming around them. When the whales are moving through the river the gulls are usually very active.
To track the whales and document their presence in the river, watch the webcam at Naknek River, King Salmon AK Explore.org live cam or on YouTube (does not provide the cam comment board) . Begin looking for beluga whales 1-2 hours before the peak of high tide. The whales are typically swimming back towards the mouth of the river, Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea before the peak of high tide so they come and go in a short period of time. Tide predictions for the Naknek River in King Salmon can be found here .
Enter your observations here Beluga Whales in the Naknek River and help the NPS learn more about these amazing animals. It is helpful to enter your observations when you have participated and the beluga whales were or were not observed in the Naknek River. The lack of their presence is important information to track also.
After going to the above link, click where it says "Add Observations".
Observation Information Requested to Document Your Observations:[]
Your observations and information about them will be entered when you "Add Observations" for the Beluga Whales in the Naknek River Citizen's Science Project. The following photos will help you with what information is collected, how to enter it, and where to obtain some of the requested information. Cick on any image for a larger view:
When you "Add Observations", the project also requests that you enter "other notable wildlife observations" / for you to "please record other species of animals that you saw while you were watching". A list of birds / waterfowl commonly observed in King Salmon along with other information and photos taken from the cam can be found here: King Salmon Birds / Waterfowl
After you have entered all of your informationn in the project fields, please remember to save your observation or to save and add another observation.
Last season, I utilized an Excel spreadsheet to compile the information before and during my beluga whale observations. For those of you that have Excel and wish to use it this season, I will email you a copy of the spreadsheet that I use. For those that don't use Excel, you may use a program that will allow you to convert the Excel file that I can email you to the program that you use. Here are photos of what they look like:
Information, Videos, Pictures & Sounds re: Beluga Whales in the Naknek River, King Salmon, AK[]
Information:[]
General Information:[]
Belugas are small, toothed whales. They are gray when they are born and turn white as they age. They have very muscular, robust bodies and large melons, bulbous structures on the forehead. Their neck is very flexible, and, in place of a dorsal fin, they have a ridge running down their back. Beluga whales have a very thick blubber layer that can be up to 5 inches thick.
Belugas are about 5 feet long at birth and weigh 90–130 pounds. Adults grow to be 11–15 feet long. Females are smaller than males, rarely growing over 12 feet. Reports of adult beluga weights vary from 1000–3300 pounds.
The beluga's nickname is the ‘sea canary’ due to the wide variety of sounds they make. They have an extensive repertoire of whistles, grunts and clicks, belugas are also adept at using echolocation, or sonar, to navigate under the ice, find prey in murky waters, and communicate across watery distances.
(Thanks to Sand Bear for the above information on beluga whales from Alaska Department of Fish & Game)
Beluga whales inhabit arctic and subarctic waters in the United States, Canada, Greenland, and Russia. They are found in open ocean, continental shelf, coastal, estuary, and river waters. Within Alaska, there are five different populations of beluga whales: Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay, eastern Bering Sea, eastern Chukchi Sea, and Beaufort Sea. The Bristol Bay and Cook Inlet populations are believed to remain within their respective areas year round. The eastern Bering Sea, eastern Chukchi Sea, and Beaufort Sea populations winter in the Bering Sea and return to their respective areas during the summer.
Click this link for additional infomation on beluga whales from Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Click this link for information from ADF&G's Beluga Whale - Wildlife Notebook Series
Click this link for information from NOAA's Beluga Whale - National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources
Other Information:[]
Do beluga whales arrive in King Salmon everyday?
Ranger Mike's answer: "No they do not arrive everyday. Frankly, we don't know how often they arrive this far upriver. Hopefully the project on iNaturalist will figure that out."
How far upriver is the King Salmon / Naknek River cam from the bay?
Ranger Mike's answer: "About 15 miles."
How far do the beluga whales swim past the cam before they turn around?
Ranger Mike's answer: "They may go a few more miles upstream before they turn around. They typically don't go much farther upriver."
When do the beluga whales come back out of the Naknek River in King Salmon towards the bay?
Ranger Mike's answer: "They come and go within a 1/2 hour to 1 hour of their arrival. When the tide starts to ebb, they are usually on their way out. They don't want to get stranded in the shallow water."
When the tide is going back out, and the belugas are swimming to the right as seen from the cam view, are the whales going towards Halfmoon Bay and Kvichak Bay? Also, heading the direction of the pic below, or towards Eskimo Creek and King Salmon Creek correct?
Ranger Mike's answer: "Yes, they are going out to Kvichak Bay, which is part of Bristol Bay, which is part of the Bering Sea. In your screen shot, Eskimo Creek is just out of the cam's line of sight on the right of the photo. King Salmon Creek is farther downstream. It's confluence with the Naknek River is where the river disappears out of view."
So basically, the beluga whales just swim upriver in the direction of Naknek Lake, turn around, and swim back out to the bay?
Ranger Mike's answer: "You got it. Once more boats arrive on the river beluga whales stop coming upstream it seems."
So river traffic seems to deter them?
Ranger Mike's answer: "Some biologists suspect that is the case, but there may be other food sources they seek elsewhere. I don't really know, it could be a coincidence that when boat traffic increases, the whales stop coming this far upriver, but it might not be."
Do the bears (brown bears) make an attempt to catch a beluga when the water might be shallow?
- Ranger Mike's answer: "They will feed on whale carcasses when they wash up on shore, but the whales are much too large (an adult beluga can weight about 3,000 lbs) for the bears to catch even if they could swim fast enough to do so. Alutiiq (pronounced "a-loo-tik) and Yupik (pronounced "you-pik") people hunted the belugas in the river. A small number of whales are still hunted for subsistence in Bristol Bay, but not in Naknek River as far as I know."
Here is a link to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Viewing Seasonal Calendar that includes information about the beluga whales in King Salmon under the month of April: click here for the Wildlife Viewing Seasonal Calendar from ADFG
Videos, Pictures, & Sounds:[]
The morning of April 11, 2016 was "a great morning for whale watching" Ranger Mike "first saw beluga whales downstream of the cam around 6:45 am AKDT. At least two dozen whales swam upstream past" his "vantage point". Juergen captured this video at 6:56 am while the beluga whales were on their way upriver and this video at 7:47 am when the whales were on their way back downriver going out toward Bristol Bay. Juergen also catured shared this gif and this gif .
On April 9, 2016 at 7:19 am Cam Op BB provided our first sighting on the live cam of the seaon, and Anna-Marie captured this video
On April 26, 2014 Ranger Mike hiked downriver towards King Salmon Creek (approximately 1.5 miles downriver from the cam at most) and saw 12 to 15 beluga whales in the Naknek River just around the bend from the live camera view. He started his hike near the cam and hiked downriver along the northern shoreline. That's the side the cam is on. He started late in the low to high tide cycle, so by the time he approached the creek, the water was already high enough that it forced him to bushwhack the last 1/2 mile to the creek. He stopped and watched belugas for quite a while during the bushwhack. From the outlet of King Salmon Creek, he then headed upstream and eventually took an ATV trail back to the main road. He said the hike was not a long hike, about 5 miles round trip. He put together a video with glimpses of the whales and a harbor seal. Here is the link to Ranger Mike's video: click here to view Ranger Mike's video
Here is a link to another video of the beluga whales in the Naknek River in King Salmon on April 26, 2014: click here to view video on Katmai National Park YouTube
Here is the link to Ranger Jeanne's video of beluga whales in the Naknek River in King Salmon on April 20, 2014: click here to view Ranger Jeanne's video
The beluga whales seen on April 7, 2015 were captured on the Ustream video. Uncertain how long the video will be available, but you can enjoy the morning of April 7th, the belugas, some eagles (one landing on the tower near the City/Town Dock, and one flying very close in front of the camera), and countless gulls in flight at this link: click here for Ustream Video of the morning of April 7, 2015
The beluga whales were seen coming upriver on the morning of April 24, 2015 on the cam in King Salmon and by Ranger Roy when he was down by the river. High tide the morning of 04.24.2015 was predicted at 10:06 am and to be at a height of 2.78, the highest tide predicted as of that date in the 2015 season. Here is the link to the first video by Juergen: click here to view Juergen's 1st video of the beluga whales seen 04.24.15 Here is the link to the second video by Juergen: click here to view Juergen's 2nd video from the morning of 04.24.2015 Here is the link to Juergen's first gif of the beluga whales seen the morning of 04.25.2015: click here to view Juergen's 1st gif of the beluga whales from 04.24.15 Here is the link to Juergen's second gif of the beluga whales seen the morning of 04.24.2015: click here to view Juergen's 2nd gif of the beluga whales from 04.24.2015 . Ranger Roy captured this video down by the river: click here to view Ranger Roy's video from 04.24.2015
If the sound is working on the cam, you may be able to hear the whales. They will be spouting and possibly making other noises. Here is a link to a video that Ranger Roy shared with some examples of the sounds beluga whales make: click here to hear Beethoven the Beluga Whale (Whale Sounds)
Here is a link to a video by KatmaiBrownBear of beluga whales in the Naknek River in King Salmon from April 2012 that was taken upriver from the dock: click here to view KatmaiBrownBear's April 2012 video
Carl Ramm's blog post for April 21, 2015 on King Salmon Chronicle on blogspot.com includes information and two videos of the beluga whales in the Naknek River in King Salmon, AK. click here to read Carl's blog and view the videos by Susan Alexander, US Fish and Wildlife Service
There are also five videos by MacTehKnife of beluga whales in the Naknek River. A few that you may enjoy are:
Beluga Chatter: his 2013 "audio recording of the wild beluga whales that travel up and down the Naknek River each spring" at this link (also includes underwater video footage) click here to view Beluga Chatter by MacTehKnife
Beluga Whales Up Close!: his 2013 video of "a pod of beluga whales came in very, VERY close to shore this morning! If you look closely at around 3 or 4 seconds into the video, you can see one of the small fish they're after (smelt) actually jump over the back of the whale" at this link click here to view Beluga Whales Up Close! by MacTehKnife
Beluga "Feeding Frenzy": his 2013 video of "a pod of beluga whales came in VERY close to shore in pursuit of a meal" at this link click here to view Beluga "Feeding Frenzy" by MacTehKnife
Discovery of Sound in the Sea provides two pictures of belugas and two examples of beluga whale sounds at this link: Beluga Whale Audio Gallery by Discovery of Sound in the Sea
Beluga whale sightings in 2016:
Beluga whale sighting in 2017:
Beluga whale sightings in 2018:
April 6, 2018 (video by Juergen)
April 7, 2018:
April 8, 2018:
Playlist of April 8, 2018 videos by Juergen
Beluga whale sightings 2019:
March 25, 2019 by LuvBears "A short video from this am. Is the high pitched sound whale song at 1:54 into the video?"
April 25, 2019 by LuvBears "Lots of blows from 2:10 on. At 4:29 in, 3 are seen blowing at the same time."
Additional Tide and Naknek River Water Level Information:[]
Additional Tide Information:[]
The tide cycle in King Salmon may be different from what you are use to observing. Typically on an ocean beach the time between high and low tide is about the same as the time between low and high tide, but on the Naknek River, the incomming tide has to overcome the force and momentum of the outflowing river. As a result, the outgoing tide (from high to low) is approximately 10 hours. The incoming tide (from low to high) is only about 1 - 2 hours. The graph below will help illustrate this:
Click to view larger photo
When the tide comes in, it comes in quick.
Naknek River Water Level Information:[]
In the spring and early summer there is not a lot of water in the Naknek River, but as the snow on the Aleutian Range melts, the volume of water in the river will increase. An example of how the water level in the river impacts the activities of the NPS is when they can utilize the NPS dock. In spring and early summer the NPS can only utilize the NPS dock during high tide. By mid summer, the NPS dock will be floating at all tide levels because there will be much more water in the river.
Maps & Key Areas in King Salmon:[]
The following maps and links provide information about the King Salmon cam view area, areas related to the beluga whales, and areas that viewers may be familiar with from the Katmai bear cams to provide points of reference The rangers will sometimes mentions areas located on some of the maps. Click on the images for larger view:
The areas visible from the Explore.org Naknek River / Alaskan Beluga whale cam located on the north shore of the Naknek River are highlighted on the Key Areas in King Salmon wiki page (click here to view)
The complete reduced-scale NOAA nautical chart for the Bristol Bay - Kvichak Bay and Approaches area can be obtained at this link: Bristol Bay - Kvichak Bay & Approaches NOAA Nautical Chart