Bowhead Whale Presence and Migration Timing in the Pacific Arctic 2008-2022

Bowhead whales migrate through the Bering Strait every spring to feed on large amounts of zooplankton that grow in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. As the Arctic warms, there is evidence that some whales might be spending winter on their summer feeding grounds. Changes to migration could impact breeding and increase competition, killer whale attacks, and ship strike risk. Bowhead whales play an important role in the marine ecosystem and are vital to Native Alaskan communities. Bowhead whale habitat can be hard to access. However, bowhead whales vocalize, providing an opportunity to use passive acoustic monitoring to study their movement. The project combines bowhead whale calls with sea ice data to identify the drivers of migration and changes to migration.