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Changes in Sea Ice and Range Expansion of Sperm Whales in the Pond Inlet Region of Baffin Bay, Canada
  • +5
  • Natalie Posdaljian,
  • Caroline Soderstjerna,
  • Joshua Jones,
  • Alba Solsona-Berga,
  • John Hildebrand,
  • Kristin Westdal,
  • Alex Ootoowak,
  • Simone Baumann-Pickering
Natalie Posdaljian
UC San Diego

Corresponding Author:nposdalj@ucsd.edu

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Caroline Soderstjerna
UC San Diego
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Joshua Jones
UC San Diego
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Alba Solsona-Berga
UC San Diego
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John Hildebrand
University of California San Diego
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Kristin Westdal
Oceans North Canada
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Alex Ootoowak
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Simone Baumann-Pickering
UC San Diego
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Abstract

Sperm whales are a cosmopolitan species only found in ice-free regions. Understanding the distribution of sperm whales in regions undergoing rapid loss of sea ice and ocean warming is important. In 2014 and 2018, sperm whales were sighted in the Pond Inlet, Baffin Bay: the first recorded uses of this region. We investigated sperm whale distribution near the Pond Inlet using visual sighting and passive acoustic data from two recording sites between 2015 and 2019. We found no records of sperm whale sightings near Pond Inlet outside of the 2014/2018 observations. However, the acoustic data revealed whale presence yearly from 2015-2019 in the late summer and fall months. Sperm whale presence increased over the 5-year study duration and was closely related to sea ice extent. Monitoring climate change-induced range expansion of sperm whales is important to understand how increasing presence of a top-predator might impact the Arctic food web.