Whales take Northwest Passage as Arctic sea-ice melts

Richard Black - 

Bowhead whales, the giants of the Arctic, are using the Northwest Passage to move across the top of the Americas.

Skeletons, DNA samples and harpoon heads have all suggested that bowhead populations living on each side of the continent did meet and mingle.

Now, research published in the journal Biology Letters has used satellite tags to provide confirmation.

The work may provide insights into the development of Arctic cultures in which bowhead hunting plays a central role.

Mads Peter Heide-Jorgensen from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources led a team that has satellite-tagged more than 100 bowheads over the last decade - much of the work funded by oil and gas companies interested in the Arctic's new mineral wealth.

Last August, as the Arctic sea ice neared its annual minimum, the satellite data told them that one whale from the Greenland side and one from the Alaskan side had arrived in pretty much the same area, north of the Canadian mainland.

They spent about 10 days circling in the same patch of water before heading back to their respective home ranges.

This is the first time such mingling has been seen directly, although there is plenty of circumstantial evidence that it has happened sporadically in the past.

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