Migrating Whales Forced Into Danger's Path in 'Wild West' Arctic

A group of whales may be forced into the path of ships as a result of climate change, research has found.

The population of bowhead whales migrates annually, swimming between the Bering Sea—south of the Bering Sea in between Russia and Alaska—and the Beaufort Sea to the north of Alaska and Canada.

However, climate change is shifting their feeding grounds, forcing them to migrate along different paths, and possibly making them cross major shipping lanes, according to a new paper in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Bowhead whales are large, baleen whales that can grow up to around 60 feet. They are one of the most long-lived species in the world, with some living up to 200 or older. Bowhead whales were heavily hunted by commercial whalers in the past, particularly in the 17th to 19th centuries. However, they have made a remarkable recovery since the cessation of commercial whaling in many areas, and their populations are currently considered stable. They are classified as least concern on the the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

The study population of bowheads usually overwinters in the Bering Sea, heading to their feeding grounds in the Beaufort Seas during the warmer months.

Researchers from the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University used over 10 years’ worth of acoustic data to monitor the movements of the whales as they traveled along their migration routes. They found that they have started leaving the feeding grounds later and later in the year, with a six-week difference in 2022 compared to 2008.

They also discovered that they are spending more time in the Chukchi Sea during the feeding season, situated to the north of the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska, and have stopped continuing to the Beaufort Sea.

“The changes we are seeing in migration patterns lead to many questions,” study author Angela Szesciorka, a marine scientist at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute, said in a statement. “How many whales are going to the Chukchi Sea in the summer? What are they feeding on? Do the same individuals return each year? We’re essentially learning on the fly how whales are responding to changing climate.”

Of late, commercial ocean traffic has been rising in the Chukchi Sea due to declining sea ice levels, meaning that the whales may be put in harm’s way.

“Vessel strikes involving humpback whales and other species are of significant concern, particularly in areas where maritime activities overlap with whale habitats. The frequency of these strikes varies depending on a number of factors that including location, whale behavior, and shipping traffic,” Niki Alsford, a professor at the University of Central Lancashire in the U.K. who specializes in the anthropology of the maritime Asia Pacific region, including incidents involving whales, told Newsweek.

The whale’s migration paths may be shifting due to their feeding grounds moving. These whales eat small fish, krill, and plankton using their huge baleens to filter feed from the water.

Increasing ocean temperatures and declining sea ice extent may have meant that more of these plankton and other prey are present in the Chukchi Sea, leading the bowheads to change their migrations.

“A shift like this may not necessarily be a bad thing for the whales, but any time we see more overlap with whales and shipping traffic, we should be concerned,” Szesciorka said. “There will be winners and losers, but only time will tell.”

“With this general northward shift paired with an increase in vessels and shipping, the threat of ship strikes will probably increase.”

Image from the paper showing how the bowhead whales migrate from their usual overwintering spot in the Bering Sea, north through the Bering Strait, to summer feeding grounds in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Recently, they’ve begun leaving the summer feeding grounds weeks later, with some whales not bothering to return to the Bering Sea winter spot. Geophysical Research Letters 2024. DOI: 10.1029/2023GL106416

Since 2009, shipping traffic in the western Chukchi Sea has increased by around 13 percent. However, there has not yet been any increase in bowhead whale vessel strikes— “that we know of,” Szesciorka stresses.

“Right now, the Arctic is kind of the wild west,” she said. “As sea ice continues to decline, shipping, especially large commercial vessels that go much faster than smaller fishing boats, is only going to increase. It’s better to start thinking about this sooner rather than later so we can prevent problems rather than try to respond to them.”

Szesciorka suggests that speed limits could be put into place for ships in areas where bowheads migrate, which could help prevent vessel strikes.

The paper also discusses the possible impacts of the changing bowhead migration patterns on the Indigenous people nearby. Many tribes rely on bowhead harvest for food and resources, and may be left without if parts of the whales’ range are abandoned.

Exactly how the whales will adapt to the changing climate in the future remains to be seen, however.

“We saw these changes in migration patterns in just nine years,” she said. “For a species that can live to 200, that’s pretty stark. That shows they can adapt to their changing environments for now. But will there be a point where they can’t adapt anymore? We have to wait and see.”

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