CBC North: Researchers want to know how more marine shipping in Nunavut could affect walruses

Fiona Odlum — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 21:14:56 +0000

Researchers are hoping to understand how walruses in the central Canadian Arctic react to shipping noise in the waters around them.

That work is led by a master’s student at the University of Manitoba, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It’s taking place in Foxe Basin, home to one of Canada’s largest walrus populations.

“They’re really sensitive to any underwater noise and it might affect their behaviour,” said Marine Cailleau, a marine biology master’s student at the University of Manitoba who’s leading the research.

To read the entire article, please follow the link to CBC North.

Mongabay News: Killer whales have found new homes in the Arctic Ocean, potentially reshaping marine ecology

Fiona Odlum — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 19:43:53 +0000

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are finding a new place to roam in the rapidly changing Arctic Ocean. Though Indigenous people in the region have seen the whales, also known as orcas, pop up sporadically for centuries, the predators now have more access to the chilly waters than ever before.

Two distinct killer whale populations now claim habitats in the Arctic, according to a team led by researchers at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. But the whales’ presence raises conservation concerns that may be difficult to address, the team reported recently in Global Change Biology.

To read more about this research, please follow the link to Mongabay News.

UM Todaymarine biology – UM Today

CBC North: Researchers want to know how more marine shipping in Nunavut could affect walruses

Mongabay News: Killer whales have found new homes in the Arctic Ocean, potentially reshaping marine ecology