Whale pod breaks migration pattern, scientists believe it's an effect of climate change
Another explanation is “predator avoidance,” with the bowheads steering clear of orca whales. Scientists believe this behaviour – never previously detected – could be driven by the effects of climate change, and be a potential harbinger of shifting dynamics across the region’s ecosystem. “The evidence is clear that BCB bowheads overwintered in their summer foraging region in the eastern Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf during the 2018-2019 winter and as far as we know, this is the first time it has been reported,” says the study published Wednesday in the Royal Society Open Science journal. Another possible explanation is “predator avoidance,” with the bowheads steering clear of orca whales that are more frequently seen in some areas as warming seas lead to decreased ice cover. Other phenomena linked to climate change could also be at play, like the increasingly erratic and early summer plankton bloom – whales could be spending winter in their summer grounds to ensure they catch the key food source, the scientists suggest.
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