1. Robert Suydam Department of Wildlife Management, Alaska North Slope Borough Ph.D.-Fisheries, (Univ. of Washington, expected in 2005), M.S-Biology, (Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks, 1995) Research, Monitoring, and Management Interests: Life history traits of marine mammals and birds Population dynamics Predator-prey relations and nesting associations Monitoring of status of populations of marine mammals and birds Co-management of resources shared across international borders

2. Changes in Arctic sea ice: what are the consequences for whales? Robert Suydam North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management Barrow, AK Sue Moore NOAA/Alaska Fisheries Science Center National Marine Mammal Laboratory Seattle, WA

6. Bowhead whales migrate between the Bering Sea and Beaufort Sea along the Alaskan coast

7. In autumn, bowhead whales migrate westward along the Beaufort Sea shelf Barrow Kaktovik

8. In some years, whales aggregate along the Beaufort Sea coast during the autumn migration

9. Bowhead whales migrate closer to shore in light-ice ( 70% cover) conditions

10. Bowheads feed on copepods, euphausiids and various other zooplankton EuphausiidsCopepods Copepods are found in both Bering Sea and Arctic Water Euphausiids are more common in Bering Sea Water

12. In autumn, beluga whales migrate westward along the Beaufort Sea shelf break Barrow Kaktovik

13. Eastern Chukchi Sea Belugas

14. Eastern Beaufort Sea Belugas Alaska Canada Russia Courtesy of P.R. Richard

15. Eastern Canada & West Greenland Belugas Courtesy of M.P. Heide-Jørgensen

16. Regional to Pan-Arctic Scales Beluga Whales Hobbs and Litkova Richard Suydam Heide-Jørgensen Richard, Kingsley Lydersen Hobbs Richard & Heide-Jørgensen Quakenbush

17. Belugas feed on a wide variety of prey We know little about prey species, such as Arctic cod, in the Arctic Ocean Beluga tracks could indicate cod or other prey ‘hotspots’ & habitats

18. Why worry about whales and sea ice change? Four Good Reasons: –INDICATOR SPECIES –BIO-SAMPLING SCALE –NUTRIENT CYCLERS –IMPORTANT FOR SUBSISTENCE

19. INDICATOR SPECIES Conspicuous Top Predators in Short Arctic Food Webs Efficient Feeding = Dense Prey Patches Discovery of ‘New’ Production Hotspots

20. Short Arctic Food Webs

21. What influences prey availability for whales? Nutrient concentrations on the shelf and vertical stratification in calm weather results in high concentrations of phytoplankton which support dense patches of zooplankton Conversely, euphausiids are advected to the Beaufort Sea via Bering Sea Water inflow through Bering Strait

22. Is the Beaufort Shelf a region of high production? Chlorophyll from SEAWIFS satellite -August 30, 2000 Barrow Kaktovik Mackenzie River

23. Salinity vertical structure across a shelf Structure such as this can develop on the Beaufort shelf and promote zooplankton “hot spots” because of water column stability

24. What could be the consequences of climate change to whales? Climate change could alter the location or existence of zooplankton “hot spots” –Reducing prey for whales –Reducing whales for subsistence hunters because whales might not pause along the coast during their migration And vice versa….climate change could make the Alaskan Beaufort coast a BETTER feeding location for the whales

25. Cultural Keystones

26. Factors that affect bowhead whale distribution can also affect whaling success