What Can Be Done To Help Animals Impacted By Rising Sea Levels In Cape Cod

Three North Atlantic right whales in Greatcoat Cod Bay.
CREDIT: Brigid McKenna/Center for Littoral Studies, nether NOAA research allow #19315-01

HYANNIS – A recent study led by the New England Aquarium says climate change is having an effect on how big whale species such as Due north Atlantic correct whales use habitats in the Gulf of Maine, with a significant impact on their apply of Cape Cod Bay over the last twenty years.

The report, which was published in Global Modify Biology and too included researchers from institutions such equally the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Heart for Coastal Studies, used over xx years of information and novel statistical techniques to examine trends in whale habitat use of Cape Cod Bay.

Information technology found that peak utilise in the bay had shifted by almost three weeks for correct whales and humpback whales.

The findings suggest that migratory marine mammals have adapted the timing of their migrations in response to climate driven changes in the surroundings, with ascent temperatures and changes in the food supply in the Gulf of Maine causing right whales to increase their presence in Cape Cod Bay, peculiarly in April and May.

"One of the biggest gaps in our agreement of how climatic change is shifting the yearly cycles of life in the oceans involves the largest migrating animals – whales," said Dr. Michelle Staudinger, Professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst.

"Even though they're the largest mammals on earth, nosotros take an incomplete understanding of where some whales go and when," she said.

"This new inquiry helps the states sympathize how seasonal whale migration is changing, which is disquisitional for their protection and conservation in our region."

Scientists warn these changes could lead to an increased risk of vessel strikes and fishing entanglements in Greatcoat Cod Bay as vessel speeding limits and angling restrictions have been designed to coincide with the whales' historical top use of the habitat.

In response, authorities agencies will need to adapt to protect the critically endangered right whales, whose numbers have dropped to an estimated 336 individuals left in the wild.

"Changes in when whales use their traditional habitats has important implications for the blueprint of protected areas," said Dr. Dan Pendleton, atomic number 82 writer of the study and research scientist in the Aquarium'south Anderson Cabot Center for Marine Life.

"This outcome is especially important as climate change continues to change animal migrations."

To view the study, click here.

By, Matthew Tomlinson, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

Source: https://www.capecod.com/newscenter/research-shows-climate-change-is-impacting-right-whale-use-of-cape-cod-bay/

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