Background Articles

Ice seals thought to be most affected by the disappearance of arctic sea ice seem to be doing well, according to data presented at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium last week. The two species of ice seals that were declared “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act are, so far, doing well with less sea ice. …

Greenhouse gas emissions provide extreme warming on Svalbard.

Climate change has opened region up for more of the year

Climate change is ravaging the natural laboratory that inspired Darwin. The creatures here are on the brink of crisis.

December 3, 2018 – A new study by MBARI scientists shows that pulses of sinking debris carry large amounts of carbon to the deep seafloor, but are poorly represented in global climate models.

Killer whales go to extraordinary depths to pilfer a meal.

On Friday, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium released its 2018 report card for the endangered species. There are just 411 left.

Southern resident orcas are on the brink of extinction, while killer whales to the north are growing in numbers. The contrast exposes what’s killing Puget Sound’s orcas.

If spotted seal numbers continue to decrease at the same rate, they will decrease by 84% over the next 45 years, a time period of three generations for the animals.

Fifty percent of Saimaa ringed seal pups born between the years of 2014-2017 entered the world in a snowdrift constructed by volunteers.

The toxic algae bloom has already been named as the killer or suspected killer of more than 100 manatees since the spring.

Foraging strategies and their resulting efficiency (energy gain to cost ratio) affect animals' survival and reproductive success and can be linked to population dynamics. However, they have rarely been studied quantitatively in free-ranging animals. We investigated foraging strategies and efficiencies of wild northern fur seals Callorhinus ursinus during their breeding season to understand potential links to the observed population decline in the Bering Sea. We equipped 20 lactating females with biologgers to determine at-sea foraging behaviours. We measured energy expenditure while foraging using the doubly-labelled water method, and energy gained using (1) the types and energy densities of prey consumed, and (2) the number of prey capture attempts (from acceleration data). Our results show that seals employed 2 foraging strategies: one group (40\%) fed mostly in oceanic waters on small, high energy-density prey, while the other (60\%) stayed over the shallow continental shelf feeding mostly on larger, lower quality fish. Females foraging in oceanic waters captured 3 times more prey, and had double the foraging efficiencies of females that foraged on-shelf in neritic waters. However, neritic seals made comparatively shorter trips, and likely fed their pups similar to 20 to 25\% more frequently. The presence of these strategies which either favor foraging efficiency (energy) or frequency of nursing (time) might be maintained in the population because they have similar net fitness outcomes. However, neither strategy appears to simultaneously maximize time and energy allocated to nursing, with potential impacts on the survival of pups during their first year at sea.

From floods to fires, drought to coastal erosion, climate change is already having an impact on Canada's communities, landscapes and wildlife

It’s well established that Arctic ice is changing in dramatic ways. As the climate warms, ice coverage is decreasing, the amount of multiyear ice has gone down significantly and in

Reductions in sea ice in the Arctic have a clear impact on animals such as polar bears that rely on frozen surfaces for feeding, mating and migrating. But sea ice loss is changing Arctic habitat and affecting other species in more indirect ways, new research finds.

Late last year one of the world’s largest credit rating agencies announced that climate change would have an economic impact on the U.S.

Polar bears live in a remote and inhospitable environment far from most human settlements. For most biologists, opportunities to observe these animals are fleeting. In fact, scientists' main resources for understanding basic behaviors of polar bears on sea ice are observations of polar bear behavior and foraging rates made by Canadian biologist Ian Stirling more than 40 years ago, combined with local traditional knowledge from Arctic indigenous peoples.

Serious and unusual outbreaks of illness from eating raw or undercooked walrus to call attention to the risks.

In the Bering Sea, near the edge the continental shelf, fishermen are trying to escape a predator that seems to outwit them at every turn, stripping their fishing lines and lurking behind their vessels.

Since June 7, 2017, elevated North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) mortalities have been documented, primarily in Canada and were declared an Unusual Mortality Event.  In 2017, there was a total of 17 confirmed dead stranded whales (12 in Canada; 5 in the United States) and in 2018, three whales stranded in the United States. In 2019, two whales have stranded in Canada.