Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population
Ocean warming linked to anthropogenic climate change is impacting the ecology of marine species around the world. In 2010, the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf regions of the Northwest Atlantic underwent an unprecedented regime shift. Forced by climate-driven changes in the Gulf Stream, warm slope wa...
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2021
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Online Access: | http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9572/ http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9572/1/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population https://tos.org/oceanography/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population |
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ftplymouthml:oai:plymsea.ac.uk:9572 2023-05-15T17:28:21+02:00 Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population Meyer-Gutbrod, EL Greene, CH Davies, KTA Johns, DG 2021-08-31 text http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9572/ http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9572/1/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population https://tos.org/oceanography/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population en eng Oceanography Society http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9572/1/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population Meyer-Gutbrod, EL; Greene, CH; Davies, KTA; Johns, DG. 2021 Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population. Oceanography, 34 (3). 22-31. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.308 <https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.308> cc_by_4 CC-BY Ecology and Environment Marine Sciences Oceanography Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2021 ftplymouthml https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.308 2022-09-13T05:50:02Z Ocean warming linked to anthropogenic climate change is impacting the ecology of marine species around the world. In 2010, the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf regions of the Northwest Atlantic underwent an unprecedented regime shift. Forced by climate-driven changes in the Gulf Stream, warm slope waters entered the region and created a less favorable foraging environment for the endangered North Atlantic right whale population. By mid-decade, right whales had shifted their late spring/summer foraging grounds from the Gulf of Maine and the western Scotian Shelf to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The population also began exhibiting unusually high mortality in 2017. Here, we report that climate-driven changes in ocean circulation have altered the foraging environment and habitat use of right whales, reducing the population’s calving rate and exposing it to greater mortality risks from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement. The case of the North Atlantic right whale provides a cautionary tale for the management of protected species in a changing ocean. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Northwest Atlantic Plymouth Marine Science Electronic Archive (PlyMSEA - Plymouth Marine Laboratory, PML) Oceanography 34 3 22 31 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Plymouth Marine Science Electronic Archive (PlyMSEA - Plymouth Marine Laboratory, PML) |
op_collection_id |
ftplymouthml |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology and Environment Marine Sciences Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Ecology and Environment Marine Sciences Oceanography Meyer-Gutbrod, EL Greene, CH Davies, KTA Johns, DG Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population |
topic_facet |
Ecology and Environment Marine Sciences Oceanography |
description |
Ocean warming linked to anthropogenic climate change is impacting the ecology of marine species around the world. In 2010, the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf regions of the Northwest Atlantic underwent an unprecedented regime shift. Forced by climate-driven changes in the Gulf Stream, warm slope waters entered the region and created a less favorable foraging environment for the endangered North Atlantic right whale population. By mid-decade, right whales had shifted their late spring/summer foraging grounds from the Gulf of Maine and the western Scotian Shelf to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The population also began exhibiting unusually high mortality in 2017. Here, we report that climate-driven changes in ocean circulation have altered the foraging environment and habitat use of right whales, reducing the population’s calving rate and exposing it to greater mortality risks from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement. The case of the North Atlantic right whale provides a cautionary tale for the management of protected species in a changing ocean. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Meyer-Gutbrod, EL Greene, CH Davies, KTA Johns, DG |
author_facet |
Meyer-Gutbrod, EL Greene, CH Davies, KTA Johns, DG |
author_sort |
Meyer-Gutbrod, EL |
title |
Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population |
title_short |
Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population |
title_full |
Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population |
title_fullStr |
Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population |
title_sort |
ocean regime shift is driving collapse of the north atlantic right whale population |
publisher |
Oceanography Society |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9572/ http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9572/1/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population https://tos.org/oceanography/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Northwest Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Northwest Atlantic |
op_relation |
http://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/9572/1/article/ocean-regime-shift-is-driving-collapse-of-the-north-atlantic-right-whale-population Meyer-Gutbrod, EL; Greene, CH; Davies, KTA; Johns, DG. 2021 Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population. Oceanography, 34 (3). 22-31. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.308 <https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.308> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.308 |
container_title |
Oceanography |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
22 |
op_container_end_page |
31 |
_version_ |
1766120982472294400 |