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Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait

2019; Inter-Research; Volume: 39; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/esr00948

1863-5407

MN de Boer, Nicole Janinhoff, Griet Nijs, Hans Verdaat,

Arctic and Russian Policy Studies

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 39:51-62 (2019) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00948 Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait Marijke N. de Boer1,2,*, Nicole Janinhoff3, Griet Nijs4, Hans Verdaat1 1Wageningen UR, Wageningen Marine Research, 1780 AB Den Helder, The Netherlands 2Seven Seas Marine Consultancy, PO Box 11422, 1001 GK Amsterdam, The Netherlands 3Bergmannsweg 12, 31199 Diekholzen, Germany 4Natuurpunt Studie vzw, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium *Corresponding author: marijke.deboer@wur.nl ABSTRACT: 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. KEY WORDS: Bowhead whale · Balaena mysticetus · Svalbard stock · Abundance · Platform of opportunity · Conservation · Fram Strait Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: de Boer MN, Janinhoff N, Nijs G, Verdaat H (2019) Encouraging encounters: unusual aggregations of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the western Fram Strait. Endang Species Res 39:51-62. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00948 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 39. Online publication date: June 06, 2019 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2019 Inter-Research.