Behavioral Ecology of Narwhals in a Changing Arctic

• Main Authors: Laidre, Kristin L, Stern, Harry, Heide-Joergensen, Mads P, Rasmussen, Marianne, Jensen, Mikkel V
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE POLAR SCIENCE CENTER
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Biological Oceanography; *BAFFIN BAY; *ECOLOGY; *WHALES; ACOUSTIC DETECTION; BASE LINES; BIOACOUSTICS; DIVING; FIELD TESTS; HABITATS; SAMPLING; SEA ICE; TELEMETER SYSTEMS; ACOUSTIC ECOLOGY; SEA ICE ECOLOGY; FORAGING ECOLOGY; BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY; NARWHALS; PREDATION; PACK ICE; BIOENERGETIC MODELS; Arctic; Baffin Bay; Greenland; Husavik; Nuuk; Baffin; Greenland Institute of Natural Resources; Iceland; Monodon monoceros; narwhal*; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA599079; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA599079

Our primary goal is to understand baseline narwhal (Monodon monoceros) behavioral ecology in the pack ice of Baffin Bay. We will collect data on the species acoustic, movement, and diving ecology in the offshore pack ice of Baffin Bay over a 4 year long research program with three ecological focus areas (acoustic ecology, sea ice ecology, and foraging ecology). Our longitudinal and cross-population analyses will use a suite of ecological modeling approaches over a 2 decade period that encompass a period of sea ice decline and increased anthropogenic activities in West Greenland (1993-present). Prepared in collaboration with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland, and the Husavik Research Center, University of Iceland, Husavik.