Speaker: Kate Stafford, Associate Professor, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University

Topic:

Bowhead whales are the only baleen whale endemic to the Arctic. As such, they have numerous unique adaptations to living in the ice. Because of this habitat, they can be very difficult to study in below freezing temperatures and during polar night. However, novel tools, including passive acoustic monitoring, have given scientists a window into the dark icy world of the bowhead. This world is changing rapidly and declines in sea ice are changing the behavior of bowhead whales and introducing new threats and competitors into the Arctic.