Virtual whale watch #2: Bowhead whales on their autumn migration

Join us for a virtual whale watch over the coming months as bowhead and other whales migrate through Arctic waters and explore what their movements are telling us. In this second watch, we follow some bowhead whales in Canadian Arctic waters from mid-October to the end of December on their autumn migration route, an important blue corridor in the region.

Around mid-October, these bowhead whales’ summer area in the Gulf of Boothia starts to freeze over, marking the beginning of their autumn migration. After leaving the Gulf of Boothia, these whales travel the blue corridor through Fury and Helca Strait into Foxe Basin and head towards Hudson Strait, which is their wintering ground.

Using satellite tracking, we continued to follow the movements of several bowhead whales. As autumn advances, we continue to see changes in typical behaviour from the one of the world’s great whale species.

Bowhead whales’ movement from mid-October to December 2022

 

No tagged bowheads along Baffin Island’s east coast blue corridor

One interesting finding that scientists have observed is that in previous years some Foxe Basin bowhead whales would exit the Gulf of Boothia and continue a circular migration around the north and east coast of Baffin Island reaching Hudson Strait from the eastern entrance. However, no whales fitted with satellite trackers in spring 2022 have taken this migration route.

While scientists cannot say with certainty why bowhead whales might be avoiding this “northern” Baffin Bay corridor, they speculate that it is less safe with killer whales around. However, only a very small proportion of the bowhead population is being tracked, so there may be bowheads travelling along both corridors.

A change of range

When animals start to change where and when they migrate and spend their time, there can be broader implications – for the individual species and the ecosystem. It also becomes an important question for researchers, conservationists, and Inuit communities that depend on them for their food, economy, and cultural value.

For bowhead whales, the presence of killer whales appears to be influencing their migration behaviour; both the timing of and which route they take. As migration is an important feature of bowhead whales’ life cycle, it becomes an important conservation measure to protect the blue corridors they use to migrate. This is especially true as the Arctic warms and human threats expand further north, such as shipping.

A change of range can also have broader implications for the Arctic communities that rely on bowhead whales. For example, if bowhead whales start to avoid certain areas, or come at different times, there could be Arctic communities that miss out on an important food source.

Understanding where, why, and how these bowhead whales migrate is important for their conservation in a changing and warming Arctic.

Virtual Whale Watch

Over the coming months, we will follow several bowhead whales, as well as other types of whales, on their Arctic journey.

We are supporting the work of Dr. Steve Ferguson, a scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the University of Manitoba, and colleagues to identify important habitats for whales and the migratory corridors in the Arctic and beyond.

This research will assist WWF’s Blue Corridors conservation approach, which aims to better understand whales’ migration patterns and to inform global and regional management plans that protect them. Through understanding Arctic Blue Corridors, WWF will work to mitigate threats and provide solutions to governments and industry that will safeguard whales on their journeys.

It is widely recognised that protecting and connecting areas is key to strengthening biodiversity resilience to change, giving species and ecosystems space to adapt. At the same time, human activities and industrialisation are expanding across the Arctic. This has put biodiversity under pressure and has occupied and fragmented an increasing number of areas across the Arctic.

WWF and partners are working towards conservation goals for Arctic priority species, like bowhead whales. This includes identifying, protecting, and connecting their important current and future habitats. Following bowhead and other whales in the Arctic will help fill some current information gaps about these Arctic animals and their key habitats.

Special thanks to Foxe Basin bowhead field research team in Igloolik that deployed satellite tags onto the whales, collected photographs both from the air and boat and sampled the whales using biopsy techniques along the floe edge in June-July 2022: Cory Matthews, Justine Hudson, Tommy Pontbriand, Todd King Ammaaq, Levi Qaunaq, Travis Qaunaq, and Morgan Martin.

This project is managed by Brent Young and Steven Ferguson of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg. A big thank you to the Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Association, in particular the manager Jacob Maliki, for their support and assistance. Thank you as well to our Inuit colleagues based in Igloolik and Sanirayak, and to everyone who helped with truck rentals and moving gear. Financial support was provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.

Follow along to learn more!