Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait
The subpopulation of the bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus in the East Greenland-Svalbard-Barents Sea is endangered and until recently was believed to number in the tens. Recent studies have suggested that this subpopulation appears to be increasing. Here, we report on unusual aggregations of bowhead...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:008a62955b8548dbb514c3b3098b4c63 2023-05-15T15:10:39+02:00 Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait de Boer, MN Janinhoff, N Nijs, G Verdaat, H 2019-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00948 https://doaj.org/article/008a62955b8548dbb514c3b3098b4c63 EN eng Inter-Research https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v39/p51-62/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr00948 https://doaj.org/article/008a62955b8548dbb514c3b3098b4c63 Endangered Species Research, Vol 39, Pp 51-62 (2019) Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00948 2022-12-31T14:15:11Z The subpopulation of the bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus in the East Greenland-Svalbard-Barents Sea is endangered and until recently was believed to number in the tens. Recent studies have suggested that this subpopulation appears to be increasing. Here, we report on unusual aggregations of bowhead whales within the Fram Strait. We present opportunistic and effort-corrected observations of bowhead whales made from a small expedition vessel during cruises in June (2015-2018). Bowhead whales were sighted on 85 occasions (220-227 whales). An aggregation in 2015 (n = 84 whales) and high numbers in 2018 (n = 104-110) exceeded all previous records. The index of whale abundance was significantly higher in open water-leads (1.08-1.14 whales km-1 of survey effort) compared to areas with drift-ice (0.51-0.53 whales km-1). The highest abundance index was measured in deep waters where the bottom slope was relatively steep. Our findings highlight the temporal and spatial consistency of this species in areas with relatively loose ice cover (open water-leads) and steep slopes. It is unknown how global warming and resultant changes in ice-extent are going to affect bowhead whales within the Strait and whether they will find new feeding grounds due to an expanding open-ocean habitat. These slopes may become increasingly important to bowhead whales and Arctic top predators as a spring/early summer feeding ground. These relatively large numbers of bowhead whales are encouraging and can help direct future research monitoring programs to study the population ecology of these endangered whales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Balaena mysticetus Barents Sea bowhead whale East Greenland Fram Strait Global warming Greenland Svalbard Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Svalbard Barents Sea Greenland Endangered Species Research 39 51 62 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
spellingShingle |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 de Boer, MN Janinhoff, N Nijs, G Verdaat, H Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait |
topic_facet |
Zoology QL1-991 Botany QK1-989 |
description |
The subpopulation of the bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus in the East Greenland-Svalbard-Barents Sea is endangered and until recently was believed to number in the tens. Recent studies have suggested that this subpopulation appears to be increasing. Here, we report on unusual aggregations of bowhead whales within the Fram Strait. We present opportunistic and effort-corrected observations of bowhead whales made from a small expedition vessel during cruises in June (2015-2018). Bowhead whales were sighted on 85 occasions (220-227 whales). An aggregation in 2015 (n = 84 whales) and high numbers in 2018 (n = 104-110) exceeded all previous records. The index of whale abundance was significantly higher in open water-leads (1.08-1.14 whales km-1 of survey effort) compared to areas with drift-ice (0.51-0.53 whales km-1). The highest abundance index was measured in deep waters where the bottom slope was relatively steep. Our findings highlight the temporal and spatial consistency of this species in areas with relatively loose ice cover (open water-leads) and steep slopes. It is unknown how global warming and resultant changes in ice-extent are going to affect bowhead whales within the Strait and whether they will find new feeding grounds due to an expanding open-ocean habitat. These slopes may become increasingly important to bowhead whales and Arctic top predators as a spring/early summer feeding ground. These relatively large numbers of bowhead whales are encouraging and can help direct future research monitoring programs to study the population ecology of these endangered whales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
de Boer, MN Janinhoff, N Nijs, G Verdaat, H |
author_facet |
de Boer, MN Janinhoff, N Nijs, G Verdaat, H |
author_sort |
de Boer, MN |
title |
Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait |
title_short |
Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait |
title_full |
Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait |
title_fullStr |
Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait |
title_full_unstemmed |
Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait |
title_sort |
encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales balaena mysticetus in the western fram strait |
publisher |
Inter-Research |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00948 https://doaj.org/article/008a62955b8548dbb514c3b3098b4c63 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard Barents Sea Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Barents Sea Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus Barents Sea bowhead whale East Greenland Fram Strait Global warming Greenland Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus Barents Sea bowhead whale East Greenland Fram Strait Global warming Greenland Svalbard |
op_source |
Endangered Species Research, Vol 39, Pp 51-62 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v39/p51-62/ https://doaj.org/toc/1863-5407 https://doaj.org/toc/1613-4796 1863-5407 1613-4796 doi:10.3354/esr00948 https://doaj.org/article/008a62955b8548dbb514c3b3098b4c63 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00948 |
container_title |
Endangered Species Research |
container_volume |
39 |
container_start_page |
51 |
op_container_end_page |
62 |
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1766341632586678272 |