OPP-PRF: Using Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Bowhead Whales to Identify Biotic and Abiotic Drivers and Timing of Migration

弓头鲸每年春天都会穿过白令海峡迁徙，以楚科奇海和博福特海的浮游动物为食;它们对海洋生态系统和阿拉斯加土著社区至关重要。随着北极变暖，一些鲸鱼可能会改变它们的迁徙模式，在夏季的觅食地过冬。迁徙的变化可能会影响繁殖，增加竞争，虎鲸袭击和船只撞击风险。弓头鲸发声提供了一个机会，使用被动声学监测，以研究他们的运动。该项目将露脊鲸叫声数据与环境和猎物数据相结合，以跟踪运动并预测船舶撞击风险。这些发现将改善对这种生态，生物和文化重要物种的管理，并帮助研究人员了解气候变化对鲸鱼行为的影响。研究结果将在阿拉斯加和北极研究人员。计划为本科生，公众和K-12观众的活动将提供参与海洋哺乳动物科学和生物声学的机会。这项研究涉及气候变化对弓头鲸迁移的影响，迁移的驱动因素，以及白令海峡和博福特和楚科奇海船舶罢工的可能性。长期被动声学数据从三个系泊位置结合建模环境和猎物数据被用来检查弓头鱼迁移的驱动程序。这项研究将量化鲸鱼在季节性时期的存在，而鲸鱼在历史上是不会出现在该地区的。研究结果将表明露脊鲸是否正在改变它们的迁徙模式，这可能会影响土著社区。鲸鱼的存在将被分析相对于船舶交通，这将提供深入了解船舶撞击风险和船舶噪音对弓头鲸的影响。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Bowhead whales migrate through the Bering Strait every spring to feed on zooplankton growing in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas; they are vital to the marine ecosystem and to Alaska Native communities. As the Arctic warms, some whales may be changing their migration patterns to spend winter on their summer feeding grounds. Changes to migration could impact breeding and increase competition, killer whale attacks, and ship-strike risk. Bowhead whale vocalizations provide an opportunity to use passive acoustic monitoring to study their movement. This project combines data on bowhead whale calls with environmental and prey data to track movement and predict ship-strike risk. The findings will improve management of this ecologically, biologically, and culturally important species and help researchers understand climate change impacts on whale behavior. Research results will be presented in Alaska and to Arctic researchers. Activities planned for undergraduate, public, and K-12 audiences will provide opportunities to engage participants in marine mammal science and bioacoustics.This research addresses the impacts of climate change on bowhead migration, the drivers of migration, and the potential for ship strikes in Bering Strait and the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Long-term passive acoustic data from three mooring locations combined with modeled environmental and prey data are used to examine the drivers of bowhead migration. This research will quantify whale presence during seasonal periods when whales are historically not expected to be present in the area. Results will indicate whether bowhead whales are changing their migratory patterns, which could impact Indigenous communities. Whale presence will be analyzed relative to vessel traffic, which will provide insight on ship-strike risk and effects of ship noise on bowheads.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.