The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal

Alexander, M. A. et al. Projected sea surface temperatures over the 21st century: changes in the mean, variability and extremes for large marine ecosystem regions of Northern Oceans. Elem. Sci. Anth. 6, 9 (2018).

Article  Google Scholar 

National Snow & Ice Data Center. State of the cryosphere: is the cryosphere sending signals about climate change? https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/sotc/sea_ice.html (2020). Accessed 24 Apr 2020.

Michel, C. et al. Biodiversity of Arctic marine ecosystems and responses to climate change. Biodiversity 13, 200–214 (2012).

Article  Google Scholar 

Hauser, D. D. W., Laidre, K. L. & Stern, H. L. Vulnerability of Arctic marine mammals to vessel traffic in the increasingly ice-free Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Route. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 115, 7617–7622 (2018).

PubMed  Article  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Albouy, C. et al. Global vulnerability of marine mammals to global warming. Sci. Rep. 10, 1–12 (2020).

Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Dietz, R., Heide-Jørgensen, M. P., Glahder, C. & Born, E. Occurrence of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) and white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in East Greenland. Meddr. Grønl. Biosci. 39, 69–86 (1994).

Google Scholar 

Dietz, R., Heide-Jørgensen, M. P., Richard, P. R. & Acquarone, M. Summer and Fall Movements of Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) from Northeastern Baffin Island Towards Northern Davis Strait. Arctic 54, 244–261 (2001).

Article  Google Scholar 

Richard, P., Weaver, P., Dueck, L. & Barber, D. Distribution and numbers of Canadian High Arctic narwhals (Monodon monoceros) in August 1984. Meddr. Grønl. Biosci. 39, 41–50 (1994).

Google Scholar 

Dietz, R. & Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Movements and swimming speed of narwhals, Monodon monoceros, equipped with satellite transmitters in Melville Bay, northwest Greenland. Can. J. Zool. 73, 2106–2119 (1995).

Article  Google Scholar 

Belikov, S. E. & Boltunov, A. N. Distribution and migrations of cetaceans in the Russian Arctic according to observations from aerial ice reconnaissance. NAMMCO Sci. Publ. 4, 69–86 (2002).

Article  Google Scholar 

Vacquié-Garcia, J. et al. Late summer distribution and abundance of ice-associated whales in the Norwegian High Arctic. Endanger. Species Res. 32, 59–70 (2017).

Article  Google Scholar 

Heide-Jørgensen, M., Richard, P. R., Dietz, R. & Laidre, K. L. A metapopulation model for Canadian and West Greenland narwhals. Anim. Conserv. 16, 331–343 (2013).

Article  Google Scholar 

Hobbs, R. C. et al. Global review of the conservation status of Monodontid stocks. Mar. Fish. Rev. 81, 1–41 (2020).

Article  Google Scholar 

Kovacs, K. M. & Lydersen, C. Climate change impacts on seals and whales in the North Atlantic Arctic and adjacent shelf seas. Sci. Prog. 91, 117–150 (2008).

PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

Laidre, K. L. et al. Quantifying the sensitivity of Arctic marine mammals to climate-induced habitat change. Ecol. Appl. 18, S97–S125 (2008).

PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

Heide-Jørgensen, M. et al. Abundance of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) on the hunting grounds in Greenland. J. Mammal. 91, 1135–1151 (2010).

Article  Google Scholar 

Doniol-Valcroze, T. et al. Abundance Estimates of Narwhal Stocks in the Canadian High Arctic in 2013 (NAMMCO Sci. Publ. 11, in press).

Münchow, A., Falkner, K. K. & Melling, H. Baffin Island and West Greenland Current Systems in northern Baffin Bay. Prog. Oceanogr. 132, 305–317 (2015).

ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

Sutherland, D. A. & Pickart, R. S. The East Greenland coastal current: structure, variability, and forcing. Prog. Oceanogr. 78, 58–77 (2008).

ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

Håvik, L. et al. Structure and variability of the Shelfbreak East Greenland current North of Denmark Strait. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 47, 2631–2646 (2017).

ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. et al. Some like it cold: temperature-dependent habitat selection by narwhals. Ecol. Evol. 10, 8073–8090 (2020).

PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar 

Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. et al. The migratory behaviour of narwhals (Monodon monoceros). Can. J. Zool. 81, 1298–1305 (2003).

Article  Google Scholar 

Dietz, R. et al. Movements of narwhals (Monodon monoceros) from Admiralty Inlet monitored by satellite telemetry. Polar Biol. 31, 1295–1306 (2008).

Article  Google Scholar 

R Core Team. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/ (2018). Accessed 24 Apr 2019.

Albertsen, C. M., Whoriskey, K., Yurkowski, D., Nielsen, A. & Flemming, J. M. Fast fitting of non-Gaussian state-space models to animal movement data via template model builder. Ecology 96, 2598–2604 (2015).

PubMed  Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Albertsen, C. M. argosTrack: Fit Movement Models to Argos Data for Marine Animals. R package version 1.2.2. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1420418, https://github.com/calbertsen/argosTrack/tree/v1.2.2 (2018). Accessed 20 Aug 2019.

Bryant, E. 2D Location Accuracy Statistics for Fastloc® Cores Running Firmware Versions 2.2 & 2.3. (2007).

Tomkiewicz, S. M., Fuller, M. R., Kie, J. G. & Bates, K. K. Global positioning system and associated technologies in animal behaviour and ecological research. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 365, 2163–2176 (2010).

Article  Google Scholar 

Pohlert, T. Trend: non-parametric trend tests and change-point detection. R package version, 1(0). https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/trend/trend.pdf (2018). Accessed 10 Aug 2019.

Heide-Jørgensen, M., Richard, P., Dietz, R. & Laidre, K. A metapopulation model for Canadian and West Greenland narwhals. Anim. Conserv. 16, 331–343 (2012).

Article  Google Scholar 

Komsta, L. & Komsta, M. L. Package ‘mblm’. https://cran.pau.edu.tr/web/packages/mblm/mblm.pdf (2013). Accessed 10 Aug 2019.

Chambault, P. et al. Sea surface temperature predicts the movements of an Arctic cetacean: the bowhead whale. Sci. Rep. 8, 9658 (2018).

ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Heide-Jørgensen, L. M. P. & Nielsen, T. G. Role of the bowhead whale as a predator in West Greenland. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 346, 285–297 (2008).

Google Scholar 

Laidre, K. L. & Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Winter feeding intensity of narwhals (Monodon monoceros). Mar. Mammal. Sci. 21, 45–57 (2005).

Article  Google Scholar 

Forster, C. Spatial Patterns, Environmental Correlates, and Potential Seasonal Migration Triangle of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) Distribution in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas (2019).

Laurel, B. J., Copeman, L. A., Spencer, M. & Iseri, P. Temperature-dependent growth as a function of size and age in juvenile Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida). ICES J. Mar. Sci. 74, 1614–1621 (2017).

Article  Google Scholar 

Laidre, K. L. et al. Seasonal narwhal habitat associations in the high Arctic. Mar. Biol. 145, 821–831 (2004).

Google Scholar 

Schmidt-Nielsen, K. Animal Physiology: Adaptation and Environment (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997).

Google Scholar 

Castellini, M. Thermoregulation. in Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (eds Perrin, W. F. et al.) 1166–1171 (Academic Press, Cambridge, 2009).

Google Scholar 

Kanwisher, J. W. & Ridgway, S. H. The physiological ecology of Whales and Porpoises. Sci. Am. 248, 110–121 (1983).

Article  Google Scholar 

Williams, T. M., Noren, S. R. & Glenn, M. Extreme physiological adaptations as predictors of climate-change sensitivity in the narwhal Monodon monoceros. Mar. Mammal Sci. 27, 334–349 (2010).

Article  Google Scholar 

McLaughlin, F. A., Carmack, E. C., Ingram, R. G., Williams, W. & Michel, C. Oceanography of the Northwest Passage. in The Sea 26 (ed. Banville, J.) 1211–1242 (President and Fellows of Harvard College, Boston, 2004).

Google Scholar 

Kern, S., Kaleschke, L. & Spreen, G. Climatology of the Nordic (Irminger, Greenland, Barents, Kara and White/Pechora) Seas ice cover based on 85 GHz satellite microwave radiometry: 1992–2008. Tellus Dyn. Meteorol. Oceanogr. 62, 411–434 (2010).

Article  Google Scholar 

Hansen, R. G., Borchers, D. L. & Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Abundance of narwhals summering in East Greenland and narwhals wintering in the North Water and Northeast Water polynyas. J. Mammal. 91, 1135–1151 (2019).

Google Scholar 

Riewe, R. Inuit land in the high Canadian Arctic. in Report Inuit land use and occupancy project 173–184 (1976).

Riewe, R. The utilisation of wildlife in the Jones Sound region by Grise Fjord Inuit. in Truelove Lowland, Devon Island, Canada: A high Arctic Ecosystem 623–644 (1977).

Riewe, R. Nunavut atlas. Canadian Circumpolar Institute and Tungavik Federation of Nunavut (1992).

Watt, C. A., Doniol-Valcroze, T., Witting, L., Hobbs, R. C., Hansen, R. G., Lee, D. S., … & Heide-Jorgensen, M. P. (2019). Hunt allocation modeling for migrating animals: The case of Baffin Bay narwhal, Monodon monoceros. Mar. Fish. Rev, 81(3–4), 125–136.

Witting, L., Doniol-Valcroze, T., Hobbs, R. C., Ditlevsen, S. & Heide-Jørgensen, M. Meta-population modelling of narwhals, Monodon monoceros, in East Canada and West Greenland. Mar. Fish. Rev. 81, 116–138 (2019) (in press).

Google Scholar 

NAMMCO. Report of the Ad hoc Working Group on Narwhal in East Greenland. https://nammco.no/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/report-global-review-of-monodontids-nammco-2018_after-erratum-060518_with-appendices_2.pdf (2019). Accessed 10 Aug 2019.

Kvadsheim, P. H. & Folkow, L. P. Blubber and flipper heat transfer in harp seals. Acta Physiol. Scand. 161, 385–395 (1997).

PubMed  Article  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Kvadsheim, P. H., Gotaas, A. R. L., Folkow, L. P. & Blix, A. S. An Experimental validation of heat loss models for marine mammals. J. Theor. Biol. 184, 15–23 (1997).

Article  Google Scholar 

Scholander, P. Evolution of climatic adaptation in homeotherms. Evolution 9, 15–26 (1955).

Article  Google Scholar 

Noren, D. P., Williams, T. M., Berry, P. & Butler, E. Thermoregulation during swimming and diving in bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus. J. Comp. Physiol. B 169, 93–99 (1999).

PubMed  Article  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Innes, S. et al. Surveys of belugas and narwhals in the Canadian High Arctic in 1996. NAMMCO Sci. Publ. 4, 169–190 (2002).

Article  Google Scholar 

Richard, P. et al. Baffin Bay Narwhal population distribution and numbers: aerial surveys in the Canadian high Arctic, 2002–04. Arctic 63, 85–99 (2010).

Article  Google Scholar 

Asselin, N. C. & Richard, P. Results of narwhal (Monodon monoceros) aerial surveys in Admiralty Inlet (2011).

Hansen, R. et al. Abundance of narwhals in Melville Bay in 2012 and 2014. (2015).

Hansen, R. & Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Re-calculations of abundance of narwhals to three management units in East Greenland (2019).