8. Biologically Important Areas for Cetaceans Within U.S. Waters – Arctic Region

Using modelled prey to predict the distribution of a highly mobile marine mammal

“…Therefore, we are making the implicit assumption that feeding takes place and is important in the area and time of year of our study. This assumption has support, as feeding is known to take place in our study area (Clarke et al., 2015; Lowry et al., 2004). The predictive strength of the modelled zooplankton variable relative to other BIOMAS variables supports the findings of Pendleton et al., (2009) and Pershing et al., (2009).…”

“…Therefore, we are making the implicit assumption that feeding takes place and is important in the area and time of year of our study. This assumption has support, as feeding is known to take place in our study area (Clarke et al, 2015;Lowry et al, 2004).…”

“…The Canadian Beaufort Sea, east of our study area, and the Point Barrow, Alaska area at the western end of our study area are important feeding areas. The coastal shelf waters between these habitats are often thought of as a migratory corridor, yet feeding is known to take place in these waters (Clarke et al, 2015(Clarke et al, , 2018Lowry et al, 2004). Western Arctic bowhead whales feed on zooplankton, primarily euphausiids and copepods, and to a lesser extent amphipods (Lowry, 1993;Lowry et al, 2004;Moore et al, 2010).…”

Northeasternmost record of a North Pacific fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) in the Alaskan Chukchi Sea

“…These new results, which describe an acoustic detection of fin whale calls at 71.5°N, 157.8°W, show that this species can potentially occur an additional 280 km farther northeast into the Chukchi Sea than shown by Delarue et al (2013). The location of this detection to the east along the Alaskan coast puts this detection well within the designated BIA for feeding gray whales and approximately 50 km from the BIA for feeding bowhead whales (Clarke et al 2015). Fin whales are opportunistic feeders, capable of thriving on zooplankton as well as fish (Mizroch et al 1984;Perry et al 1999;Flinn et al 2002).…”

“…Estimated range is 1.8 km (straight horizontal line), and estimated sound speed is 1770 m/s (straight vertical line). The normalized optimization function's argument is the set of parameters that characterize the environment; the maximum corresponds to the real environment (for full details, see Bonnel et al 2014) Polar Biol northeastern Chukchi Sea along the Alaskan coast, which is designated a Biologically Important Area (BIA) for several species of marine mammals: bowhead whales, gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), and belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) (Clarke et al 2015).…”