Distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in Icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect?
The location of Iceland at the junction of submarine ridges in the North-East Atlantic where warm and cold water masses meet south of the Arctic Circle contributes to high productivity of the waters around the island. During the last two decades, substantial increases in sea temperature and salinity...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00006 https://doaj.org/article/4bad508201a24024a82921b520cd5e83 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4bad508201a24024a82921b520cd5e83 2023-05-15T15:15:10+02:00 Distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in Icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect? Gísli Arnór Víkingsson Daniel G. Pike Anna eSchleimer Héðinn eValdimarsson Thorvaldur eGunnlaugsson Teresa eSilva Bjarki Þór Elvarsson Bjarni eMikkelsen Nils eÖien Genevieve eDesportes Valur eBogason Philip eHammond 2015-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00006 https://doaj.org/article/4bad508201a24024a82921b520cd5e83 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2015.00006/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2015.00006 https://doaj.org/article/4bad508201a24024a82921b520cd5e83 Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 3 (2015) Climate Change Fin Whale Humpback Whale Habitat modelling Common minke whale whale abundance Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00006 2022-12-31T14:32:50Z The location of Iceland at the junction of submarine ridges in the North-East Atlantic where warm and cold water masses meet south of the Arctic Circle contributes to high productivity of the waters around the island. During the last two decades, substantial increases in sea temperature and salinity have been reported. Concurrently, pronounced changes have occurred in the distribution of several fish species and euphausiids. The distribution and abundance of cetaceans in the Central and Eastern North Atlantic have been monitored regularly since 1987. Significant changes in the distribution and abundance of several cetacean species have occurred in this time period. The abundance of Central North Atlantic humpback and fin whales has increased from 1,800 to 11,600 and 15,200 to 20,600, respectively, in the period 1987-2007. In contrast, the abundance of minke whales on the Icelandic continental shelf decreased from around 44,000 in 2001 to 20,000 in 2007 and 10,000 in 2009. The increase in fin whale abundance was accompanied by expansion of distribution into the deep waters of the Irminger Sea. The distribution of the endangered blue whale has shifted northwards in this period. The habitat selection of fin whales was analyzed with respect to physical variables (temperature, depth, salinity) using a generalized additive model, and the results suggest that abundance was influenced by an interaction between the physical variables depth and distance to the 2000m isobaths, but also by sea surface temperature and sea surface height, However, environmental data generally act as proxies of other variables, to which the whales respond directly. Overall, these changes in cetacean distribution and abundance may be a functional feeding response of the cetacean species to physical and biological changes in the marine environment, including decreased abundance of euphausiids, a northward shift in summer distribution of capelin and a crash in the abundance of sand eel. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic baleen whales Blue whale Climate change Fin whale Humpback Whale Iceland minke whale North Atlantic North East Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Irminger Sea ENVELOPE(-34.041,-34.041,63.054,63.054) Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Climate Change Fin Whale Humpback Whale Habitat modelling Common minke whale whale abundance Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Climate Change Fin Whale Humpback Whale Habitat modelling Common minke whale whale abundance Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Gísli Arnór Víkingsson Daniel G. Pike Anna eSchleimer Héðinn eValdimarsson Thorvaldur eGunnlaugsson Teresa eSilva Bjarki Þór Elvarsson Bjarni eMikkelsen Nils eÖien Genevieve eDesportes Valur eBogason Philip eHammond Distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in Icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect? |
topic_facet |
Climate Change Fin Whale Humpback Whale Habitat modelling Common minke whale whale abundance Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
The location of Iceland at the junction of submarine ridges in the North-East Atlantic where warm and cold water masses meet south of the Arctic Circle contributes to high productivity of the waters around the island. During the last two decades, substantial increases in sea temperature and salinity have been reported. Concurrently, pronounced changes have occurred in the distribution of several fish species and euphausiids. The distribution and abundance of cetaceans in the Central and Eastern North Atlantic have been monitored regularly since 1987. Significant changes in the distribution and abundance of several cetacean species have occurred in this time period. The abundance of Central North Atlantic humpback and fin whales has increased from 1,800 to 11,600 and 15,200 to 20,600, respectively, in the period 1987-2007. In contrast, the abundance of minke whales on the Icelandic continental shelf decreased from around 44,000 in 2001 to 20,000 in 2007 and 10,000 in 2009. The increase in fin whale abundance was accompanied by expansion of distribution into the deep waters of the Irminger Sea. The distribution of the endangered blue whale has shifted northwards in this period. The habitat selection of fin whales was analyzed with respect to physical variables (temperature, depth, salinity) using a generalized additive model, and the results suggest that abundance was influenced by an interaction between the physical variables depth and distance to the 2000m isobaths, but also by sea surface temperature and sea surface height, However, environmental data generally act as proxies of other variables, to which the whales respond directly. Overall, these changes in cetacean distribution and abundance may be a functional feeding response of the cetacean species to physical and biological changes in the marine environment, including decreased abundance of euphausiids, a northward shift in summer distribution of capelin and a crash in the abundance of sand eel. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gísli Arnór Víkingsson Daniel G. Pike Anna eSchleimer Héðinn eValdimarsson Thorvaldur eGunnlaugsson Teresa eSilva Bjarki Þór Elvarsson Bjarni eMikkelsen Nils eÖien Genevieve eDesportes Valur eBogason Philip eHammond |
author_facet |
Gísli Arnór Víkingsson Daniel G. Pike Anna eSchleimer Héðinn eValdimarsson Thorvaldur eGunnlaugsson Teresa eSilva Bjarki Þór Elvarsson Bjarni eMikkelsen Nils eÖien Genevieve eDesportes Valur eBogason Philip eHammond |
author_sort |
Gísli Arnór Víkingsson |
title |
Distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in Icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect? |
title_short |
Distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in Icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect? |
title_full |
Distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in Icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect? |
title_fullStr |
Distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in Icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in Icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect? |
title_sort |
distribution, abundance and feeding ecology of baleen whales in icelandic waters: have recent environmental changes had an effect? |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00006 https://doaj.org/article/4bad508201a24024a82921b520cd5e83 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-34.041,-34.041,63.054,63.054) |
geographic |
Arctic Irminger Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Irminger Sea |
genre |
Arctic baleen whales Blue whale Climate change Fin whale Humpback Whale Iceland minke whale North Atlantic North East Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctic baleen whales Blue whale Climate change Fin whale Humpback Whale Iceland minke whale North Atlantic North East Atlantic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 3 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2015.00006/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2015.00006 https://doaj.org/article/4bad508201a24024a82921b520cd5e83 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00006 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
3 |
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1766345545207513088 |