This document summarizes the outcomes of multiple conservation projects funded by Impact BBtW in 2013/14. It describes projects focused on beluga whales in Hudson Bay that studied communication and response to boat noise and killer whales, barn swallow habitat restoration in Quebec, Blanding's turtle head-starting and wetland release in Ontario, and a bumble bee survey across Western Canada that identified species declines and range shifts. Overall, the projects generated new scientific data to inform conservation strategies for these at-risk species.

1. Impact
BBtW
2013/14

2. Beluga Whale
Hudson Bay Region
Project
Objec+ves
1. Purchase
underwater
recording
devices
to
study
communica6on
and
effects
of
boat
noise
2. Study
killer
whale
preda6on
and
beluga
behaviour
3. Support
beluga
contaminants/reproduc6on
research

3. Outcomes
1. Communica6on:
-­‐Created
new
acous6c
soDware
-­‐Analyzed
recordings
-­‐
undisturbed
areas
(2010);
to
compare
against
disturbed
areas
(2014/15)
-­‐New
data
on
beluga
call
types,
6ming,
feeding
-­‐Purchased
two
deep-­‐water
hydrophones
Beluga Whale

4. 2010
(Undisturbed)
2014/15
(Disturbed)

5. • Belugas
communicated
con6nuously
at
similar
rates
for
clicks
and
buzzes.
• Most
calls
recorded
were
clicks.
• Buzz
calls
seemed
to
be
produced
primarily
while
feeding.

6. Outcomes
2.
Response
to
killer
whales:
-­‐Swim
faster,
thrash
in
water,
<2m
depth
along
shorelines
-­‐Proclivity
to
cluster
(distribu6on
shrunk
by
48%)
3.
Contaminants/Reproduc6on:
-­‐Peak
male
testes
mass
in
April-­‐May
(male
compn)
-­‐Pathogen/toxins
analysis
of
cysts
ongoing
Beluga Whale

7. Conserva+on
Impacts
1. Acous6c
data
will
show
how
boat
noise
influences
beluga
communica6on
2. New
communica6on
behaviour
discoveries
3. Response
to
killer
whales
shows
importance
of
protec+ng
shorelines
(mgmt
plans,
MPAs)
4. Shorter
ma6ng
period
(May-­‐June)
-­‐climate
change,
contaminants,
predator
impacts?
Beluga Whale

8. Project
Objec+ves
1. Nes6ng
habitat
(barn)
restora6on
2. Grassland
foraging
habitat
protec6on
Barn Swallow
Quebec

9. Outcomes
1. Restored
2/3
barns
and
demolished
one
2. Funding
450-­‐acre
easement
(Covey
Hill)
Barn Swallow

11. Conserva+on
Impacts
1. Restored
barns
will
provide
important
nes+ng
habitat
for
barn
swallows
in
Quebec
2. Protec6ng
450
acres
of
foraging
habitat
3. Volunteer
engagement,
educa6ng
students
Barn Swallow

12. Project
Objec+ves
1. Support
head-­‐star6ng
program
2. Release
turtles
at
a
restored
wetland
Blanding’s Turtle
S. Ontario

13. Outcomes
1. Collected
and
head-­‐started
10
eggs
from
June
2012
and
24
eggs
from
June
2013
(22/24
fer6le)
2. Tri-­‐stage
soD
release
of
10
turtles:
May
23-­‐June
23,
June
23-­‐30,
final
release
on
June
30
Blanding’s Turtle

15. Conserva+on
Impacts
1. 7/8
turtle
species
in
ON
are
at
risk
(popns
as
low
as
200).
Our
project
released
32
turtles
2. First
in
Ontario
to
test
head-­‐star6ng
3. Contributed
new
data
on
movement
paeerns,
survival
and
overwintering
sites
Blanding’s Turtle

16. Project
Objec+ves
1. Survey
bee
pollinator
diversity
and
habitat
presence
2. Study
pathogenic
impacts
on
species
3. Support
colony
produc6vity
experiment
in
NS
Western Bumble Bee
Western Canada

17. Outcomes
1. Staff
surveyed
200
sites
in
BC,
AB,
SK
and
YT.
Over
8,000
specimens
iden6fied
to
species
so
far
(BC
only).
2. Rela6ve
Bombus
percentages:
Western
bumble
bee
–
1.7%
Yellow-­‐banded
bumble
bee
-­‐
4%
Other
species
–
81%
Western Bumble Bee

18. Outcomes
3. Evidence
of
range
expansion
northward
(Regina,
YT)
4. Some
WBBs
found
along
highway
roadsides
5. Confirmed
two
subspecies
(northern,
southern);
northern
subspecies
has
higher
numbers
6. Colony
produc6vity
study
on
hold
un6l
2015
Western Bumble Bee

19. Conserva+on
Impacts
1. Most
comprehensive
bee
survey
in
Western
Canada
2. Updated
popula6on
size
es6mates
3. Possible
link
b/t
range
expansion
and
climate
change
4. COSEWIC
used
our
data
to
determine
species
designa+on
(Threatened)
5. Iden6fica6on
of
two
subspecies
impacts
recovery
strategy,
gene6c
structure
of
popns
Western Bumble Bee