Melting Arctic Ice May Up Whale Hunt

Melting sea ice may shift migration routes of Arctic whale, which in turn may lead to increased predation of the species, a new study has warned. Researchers from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in the US evaluated the relationship between changing sea ice and the migration of the Arctic whale also known as white whale and beluga whales. They also evaluated the summer residency patterns of a number of populations over two decades of dramatic sea ice changes in the Pacific Arctic. Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) exhibited a tremendous ability to deal with varying sea ice conditions from one year to the next over a 20-year time frame in their return to traditional summering grounds each year. Researchers used a combination of genetic profiling, sighting data and satellite microwave imagery of sea ice in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas for the study. Continued reductions in sea ice may result in increased predation at key aggregation areas and shifts in beluga whale behavior.