A study, which points to climate change as a possible factor pushing humpbacks north, shows results that are both ‘fascinating’ and ‘a little terrifying,’ one author says.
A humpback whale breaches in Kenai Fjords National Park on June 12, 2013. Humpback whales, with their distinctive fins, are being increasingly spotted farther north in Arctic waters used by ice-adapted bowhead whales.
“It should have been a bowhead because that’s all that’s ever up there that time of year,” Harcharek said Most of the humpbacks were seen between about 67 and 68 degrees north latitude, which is slightly north of Kotzebue, according to the data.
A bowhead whale and calf are seen swimming in open water in the Arctic Ocean in this undated photo. Bowhead whales, with their thick bow-shaped skulls that can break ice, have evolved to thrive in Arctic waters. “Of course, Craig was the go-to person when people saw something interesting,” she said. “Because people trusted him with their information and observations and because he would listen to them with respect and with consideration, people went to him.”spend part of their lives in the warm climates, wintering in Hawaii, Mexico or the waters off Japan and the Philippines.
Another factor that might be at play, also related to climate change, may be warmth-driven changes in the food web that created more favorable foraging conditions for humpback whales, Stafford said.
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