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

每年春天，弓头鲸都会通过白令海峡迁徙，以生长在楚科奇海和波弗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，在夏季的觅食地度过冬天。迁徙的变化可能会影响繁殖，增加竞争，虎鲸袭击和船只袭击的风险。弓头鲸的发声提供了一个使用被动声学监测来研究它们运动的机会。该项目将弓头鲸的叫声数据与环境和猎物数据相结合，以跟踪运动并预测船只撞击风险。这些发现将改善对这一生态、生物学和文化上重要物种的管理，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的研究人员面前展示。为本科生，公众和K-12观众计划的活动将为参与者提供参与海洋哺乳动物科学和生物声学的机会。本研究探讨了气候变化对弓头鲸迁徙的影响、迁徙的驱动因素，以及白令海峡、波弗特海和楚科奇海发生船只撞击的可能性。来自三个系泊地点的长期被动声学数据，结合模拟环境和猎物数据，用于研究弓头鲸迁移的驱动因素。这项研究将量化鲸鱼在季节性期间的存在，而历史上鲸鱼并不会出现在该地区。结果将表明弓头鲸是否正在改变它们的迁徙模式，这可能会影响土著社区。将分析鲸鱼的存在与船只交通的关系，这将提供对船舶撞击风险和船舶噪音对弓头鲸的影响的见解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.