International Research Fellowship Program: Arctic Cetacean Phenology, Biogeography, and Impacts of Climate Change

Laidre Kristin L, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

0401077 Laidre The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Kristin Laidre to work with Dr. Mads Peter Heide-Jorgensen at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR), in Nuuk, Greenland for a period of 24 months. Dr. Laidre's research addresses questions concerning the vulnerability of Arctic cetaceans to climate change. The Arctic is currently experiencing dramatic changes in sea ice characteristics and marine productivity, which will have cascading effects on Arctic food webs. Three species of cetaceans (the narwhal, beluga, and bowhead whale) inhabit Arctic waters of West Greenland and are ideal indicator organisms for monitoring ongoing biophysical changes. Dr. Laidre is quantifying the trends in sea ice and primary production in cetacean focal areas using satellite telemetry data on whale movements and diving behavior and remotely-sensed environmental data. This information is used to examine resource selection and differential vulnerability based on quantitative spatial modeling techniques. Results of this work facilitate the understanding of the potential effects of climate change on high Arctic top predators and the sustainability of their exploitation by Inuit communities, linking scientific discovery to societal benefit.