The Royal Society Open Science Journal

Climate change shows the impact on whales, change your way of the long journey

Apr 23, 2021 by Raj Narayan 0 Comments #Beaufort Sea, #Bowhead Whales, #Canada's cold Arctic Ocean waters, #climate change, #the Bering Sea, #The Royal Society Open Science Journal, #Whales

Bowhead whales move south from the Arctic Sea in winter every year, but in 2018-19, they did not do what scientists are assuming to be the effect of climate change.

The effect of climate change is being seen in organisms around the world. Some organisms are facing a lot of trouble in this, while some have tried to change their ways of life and adjust them accordingly. When scientists did not notice the presence of Bowhead Whales in winter in Canada’s cold Arctic Ocean waters, they found that this time the whale fishes did not change their migration as the weather changed. Scientists are assuming the reason for this is climate change.

The presence of Bowhead Whales in the Arctic Ocean areas, usually near Canada, is known from the Sounds of Whales. The sounds of very loud instruments, underwater sounds like groaning and piercing, give a lot of information. These sounds are of whale fishes. But the arrival of such voices from the Arctic areas during the cold season on 2018-19 suggests that this time the whale fishes have not changed their migration.

Bowhead whales usually turn south in the Arctic Ocean, changing their migration during the cold days. But in the winter of 2018-19, this is the first time that bowhead whale fishes have not changed their migration. Scientist feels that these may be the initial signs of change due to climate change occurring in this area.

Whale fishes typically migrate about six thousand kilometers, traveling around six thousand kilometers around the Birding-Chukchi-Beaufort population around Canada. They spend the wintertime in the Bering Sea, located between Russia and Alaska in winter. She then goes north first and then spends summers in the Edmundson Bay of Canada before coming back to the Beaufort Sea in the east.

But in the winter of 2018-19, Bowhead Whales saw a very different pattern. In the Canadian area, it was found that these whales have been living there for a long time, while by this time they usually disappear towards the south. Scientists collected data by recording unusual sounds of these whales for a long time underwater equipment.

Researchers found that the sounds of Bowhead Whales (Sounds of Whales) which are heard in the winter in the south are heard near Canada this time. With the help of a trained computer program, the researchers recorded the sound of bowhead whales in which they also found these whales singing what they sing for reproduction. This shows the signs of change in the migration of whales.

The study, published in The Royal Society Open Science Journal, states that such a large change in the behavior of Bowhead Whales has been observed for the first time. The reasons for this have not been directly known, but most of the statements of scientists are related to climate change. Researchers think that one of the reasons for this may be the ‘slipping’ of the ice sheet to another place in the winter of 2018-19. Apart from this, reasons like avoiding orcas predator whales, their food becoming more available due to plankton bloom due to climate change. But climate change is definitely involved in all this.