New paper
Bowhead whale migration changes driven by declines in sea ice 

As the Arctic warms four times faster than the rest of the planet, visual, acoustic, and satellite tagging evidence suggests bowhead whales might be changing their migration patterns. We analyzed 11 years of recordings of bowhead whale calls and songs to explore relationship between migration timing and sea ice in the Chukchi and Bering Seas. Fall migration into the Bering Strait and spring migration into the southern Chukchi Sea was strongly tied to sea ice in the Chukchi Sea, while sea ice in the Bering Sea was responsible for how long whales were absent between the southward and northward migration. Since 2013, some whales are remaining in southern Chukchi Sea rather than moving into the northwestern Bering Sea for the winter. Changes to bowhead whale migration could increase the overlap with ships and impact Indigenous communities that rely on bowhead whales for nutritional, cultural, and spiritual subsistence.

Read recent publication in Movement Ecology.

Data and metadata used for this research can be downloaded from the Arctic Data Center.

 

New outreach videos

Arctic Integrated Research Program (IERP)

The North Pacific Research Board has produced videos describing the science behind the Arctic IERP that took place from 2017-2021 in the Pacific Arctic. Kate Stafford is featured and narrates part of each of these videos!

Arctic IERP Program: Why Are We Studying the Arctic?

 

 

NPRB IERP Program: What We Were Studying and What We Found

News and Events

Humpback Whales Are Moving into New Territory
Alaska Public Media: 08/10/2023

Associate Professor Kate Stafford was interviewed about a recent paper on humpback whale sightings in the Arctic. (Her interview begins at 18:59.) Sightings and acoustic detections of humpback whales have increased in the southern and central Chukchi Sea in recent years as the Arctic has been warming. Extreme sea ice retreat in fall opens further habitat to humpback whales and other temperate species. 

New migration patterns detected in bowhead whales
Alaska's News Source: 03/22/2023

MMI Research Associate Angela Szesciorka and Associate Professor Kate Stafford talk to Alaska News Source about their findings related to changes in bowhead whale migration patterns. [VIDEO]

How melting Arctic sea ice is affecting the migration patterns of bowhead whales
OPB Think Out Loud: 02/28/2023

Kate Stafford talks to OPB's Think Out Loud about the findings from analyzing 12 years of underwater recordings of bowhead whale songs.

As sea ice declines in the Arctic, bowhead whales are adjusting their migration patterns
OSU Newsroom: 02/22/2023

As sea ice declines in the Arctic, bowhead whales are staying north of the Bering Strait more frequently, a shift that could affect the long-term health of the bowhead population and impact the Indigenous communities that rely on the whales, a new study by Oregon State University researchers shows.

Ways of Whales returns
01/06/2023

Associate Professor Kate Stafford will present about bowhead whales at the Ways of Whales workshop, hosted by Orca Network, on January 14.

Less ice, more shipping noise to affect Arctic marine life
Sustainability Times: 12/14/2022

“Because extensive commercial shipping in the Arctic is a relatively new phenomenon, Arctic species may have a lower tolerance of, and react more strongly to, such noise,” said [Kate] Stafford, [Associate Professor at MMI].