Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait
BACKGROUND: Climate change is warming the Arctic faster than the rest of the planet. Shifts in whale migration timing have been linked to climate change in temperate and sub-Arctic regions, and evidence suggests Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort (BCB) bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) might be overwintering...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9903510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36750903 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:9903510 2023-05-15T15:00:39+02:00 Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait Szesciorka, Angela R. Stafford, Kathleen M. 2023-02-07 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9903510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36750903 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5 en eng BioMed Central http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9903510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36750903 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5 © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. CC0 PDM CC-BY Mov Ecol Research Text 2023 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5 2023-02-12T01:58:48Z BACKGROUND: Climate change is warming the Arctic faster than the rest of the planet. Shifts in whale migration timing have been linked to climate change in temperate and sub-Arctic regions, and evidence suggests Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort (BCB) bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) might be overwintering in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. METHODS: We used an 11-year timeseries (spanning 2009–2021) of BCB bowhead whale presence in the southern Chukchi Sea (inferred from passive acoustic monitoring) to explore relationships between migration timing and sea ice in the Chukchi and Bering Seas. RESULTS: Fall southward migration into the Bering Strait was delayed in years with less mean October Chukchi Sea ice area and earlier in years with greater sea ice area (p = 0.04, r(2) = 0.40). Greater mean October–December Bering Sea ice area resulted in longer absences between whales migrating south in the fall and north in the spring (p < 0.01, r(2) = 0.85). A stepwise shift after 2012–2013 shows some whales are remaining in southern Chukchi Sea rather than moving through the Bering Strait and into the northwestern Bering Sea for the winter. Spring northward migration into the southern Chukchi Sea was earlier in years with less mean January–March Chukchi Sea ice area and delayed in years with greater sea ice area (p < 0.01, r(2) = 0.82). CONCLUSIONS: As sea ice continues to decline, northward spring-time migration could shift earlier or more bowhead whales may overwinter at summer feeding grounds. Changes to bowhead whale migration could increase the overlap with ships and impact Indigenous communities that rely on bowhead whales for nutritional and cultural subsistence. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5. Text Arctic Balaena mysticetus Beaufort Sea Bering Sea Bering Strait bowhead whale Chukchi Chukchi Sea Climate change Sea ice PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Bering Sea Bering Strait Chukchi Sea Movement Ecology 11 1 |
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English |
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Research Szesciorka, Angela R. Stafford, Kathleen M. Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait |
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Research |
description |
BACKGROUND: Climate change is warming the Arctic faster than the rest of the planet. Shifts in whale migration timing have been linked to climate change in temperate and sub-Arctic regions, and evidence suggests Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort (BCB) bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) might be overwintering in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. METHODS: We used an 11-year timeseries (spanning 2009–2021) of BCB bowhead whale presence in the southern Chukchi Sea (inferred from passive acoustic monitoring) to explore relationships between migration timing and sea ice in the Chukchi and Bering Seas. RESULTS: Fall southward migration into the Bering Strait was delayed in years with less mean October Chukchi Sea ice area and earlier in years with greater sea ice area (p = 0.04, r(2) = 0.40). Greater mean October–December Bering Sea ice area resulted in longer absences between whales migrating south in the fall and north in the spring (p < 0.01, r(2) = 0.85). A stepwise shift after 2012–2013 shows some whales are remaining in southern Chukchi Sea rather than moving through the Bering Strait and into the northwestern Bering Sea for the winter. Spring northward migration into the southern Chukchi Sea was earlier in years with less mean January–March Chukchi Sea ice area and delayed in years with greater sea ice area (p < 0.01, r(2) = 0.82). CONCLUSIONS: As sea ice continues to decline, northward spring-time migration could shift earlier or more bowhead whales may overwinter at summer feeding grounds. Changes to bowhead whale migration could increase the overlap with ships and impact Indigenous communities that rely on bowhead whales for nutritional and cultural subsistence. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5. |
format |
Text |
author |
Szesciorka, Angela R. Stafford, Kathleen M. |
author_facet |
Szesciorka, Angela R. Stafford, Kathleen M. |
author_sort |
Szesciorka, Angela R. |
title |
Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait |
title_short |
Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait |
title_full |
Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait |
title_fullStr |
Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the Bering Strait |
title_sort |
sea ice directs changes in bowhead whale phenology through the bering strait |
publisher |
BioMed Central |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9903510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36750903 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5 |
geographic |
Arctic Bering Sea Bering Strait Chukchi Sea |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Bering Sea Bering Strait Chukchi Sea |
genre |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus Beaufort Sea Bering Sea Bering Strait bowhead whale Chukchi Chukchi Sea Climate change Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus Beaufort Sea Bering Sea Bering Strait bowhead whale Chukchi Chukchi Sea Climate change Sea ice |
op_source |
Mov Ecol |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9903510/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36750903 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5 |
op_rights |
© The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC0 PDM CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00374-5 |
container_title |
Movement Ecology |
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11 |
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1 |
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1766332728207212544 |