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Chukchi Sea
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A review of climate change impacts on migration patterns of marine ... frontiersin.org Oct 25, 2024 42 facts
claimIn the eastern Chukchi Sea of the Pacific Arctic, reduced sea ice and warmer ocean temperatures have led to longer open-water seasons, higher zooplankton abundance, and increases in boreal fish species, as reported by Mueter et al. (2021).
referenceThe reduction of the Bering Sea “Cold Pool” has facilitated the dispersal of juvenile walleye pollock from the Bering Sea into the Chukchi Sea, as reported by Eisner et al. (2020), Grüss et al. (2021), and Levine et al. (2023).
referenceWalleye pollock have developed a migratory pattern where larvae and juveniles are advected from the northern Bering Sea into the Chukchi Sea, with a presumed return migration, according to Levine et al. (2023).
referenceA 2021 study by Halliday et al. evaluated the potential exposure of beluga and bowhead whales to underwater noise from ship traffic in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
referenceBrower et al. (2018) investigated the increased sightings of subArctic cetaceans in the eastern Chukchi Sea between 2008 and 2016, evaluating whether the trend resulted from population recovery, response to climate change, or increased survey effort, as published in Polar Biology.
referenceVon Duyke et al. (2020) studied ringed seal (Pusa hispida) seasonal movements, diving, and haul-out behavior in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas from 2011 to 2017.
referencePacific cod have been observed in the northern Bering Sea, but juveniles passing through the Bering Strait are unlikely to survive beyond age-1 due to poor growth conditions in the Chukchi Sea, according to Cooper et al. (2023).
referenceRode et al. (2015) published a study titled 'Increased land use by Chukchi Sea polar bears in relation to changing sea ice conditions' in PLoS ONE.
referenceJay, C., Fishchbach, A. S., and Kochnev, A. A. (2012) published 'Walrus area use in the Chukchi Sea during sparse sea ice cover' in Marine Ecology Progress Series, volume 468, pages 1–13.
claimAt least a portion of the black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) population travels over the Arctic from a colony in the Barents Region to overwintering sites in the Chukchi and Bering seas, and more cross-Arctic migrations of this species could occur as sea ice declines.
claimIn the Chukchi Sea, the migration of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) between nursery grounds as juveniles, feeding grounds as subadults, and spawning grounds as adults is linked to ice cover and seasonal production patterns.
measurementChukchi Sea beluga whales delayed their fall migration by 2 to over 4 weeks during the 2007–2012 period compared to the 1998–2002 period, a time frame characterized by less sea ice and a later freeze-up, according to Hauser et al. (2017).
claimThe absence of the 'Cold Pool' thermal barrier in the Subarctic Bering Sea allowed adult walleye pollock to shift northward and spawn near the Bering Strait, where warmer conditions facilitated juvenile pollock movement into the Chukchi Sea, according to Baker et al. (2020) and Levine et al. (2023).
claimSea ice acts as a factor in seabird distribution and ecology in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering Seas.
referenceForster, C. E., Norcross, B. L., Mueter, F. J., Logerwell, E. A., and Seitz, A. C. (2020) published 'Spatial patterns, environmental correlates, and potential seasonal migration triangle of polar cod (Boreogadus saida) distribution in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas' in Polar Biology, volume 43, pages 1073–1094, analyzing the migration patterns of polar cod.
referenceA. De Robertis, K. Taylor, C. D. Wilson, and E. V. Farley assessed the abundance and distribution of Arctic cod and other pelagic fishes over the U.S. continental shelf of the northern Bering and Chukchi seas in a 2017 study.
claimAncient murrelets (Synthliboramphus antiquus) that breed on islands in British Columbia and the Aleutian Archipelago migrate to the northern Bering and Chukchi seas after their breeding periods.
claimDuring 2017–2019, fish abundance in the Chukchi Sea was elevated, including an unprecedented movement of age-0 walleye pollock into the region, according to Levine et al. (2023).
referenceJ. A. Crawford, L. T. Quakenbush, and J. J. Citta compared the diet, condition, and productivity of ringed and bearded seals in the Alaskan Bering and Chukchi seas between historical (1975–1984) and recent (2003–2012) periods.
referenceDay et al. (2013) investigate whether the appearance of new seabird species in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas is a response to climate change.
claimBowhead whales in the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort region wintered farther north into the Chukchi Sea during 2018 and 2019, moving away from their typical winter home range in the western Bering Sea due to a lack of sea ice, according to Citta et al. (2023).
claimMoore et al. (2022) identified changes in gray whale phenology and distribution in the northern Bering and eastern Chukchi seas, linking these shifts to prey variability and ocean biophysics.
claimIn the eastern Chukchi Sea, zooplankton-feeding seabirds like Aethia auklets and short-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna tenuirostris) were more abundant in offshore waters during the 2000s compared to the fish-eating seabirds (alcids and larids) that dominated the same area from 1974 to 1995.
claimAuklet populations experienced breeding failures in the northern Bering Sea and showed low numbers migrating to the Chukchi Sea in 2019.
referenceDanielson et al. (2020) describe the manifestation and consequences of warming and altered heat fluxes over the Bering and Chukchi Sea continental shelves.
claimAuklets and other alcids conduct post-breeding northward migrations from breeding sites in the Bering Sea or the Gulf of Alaska into the Chukchi Sea to forage on abundant prey in late summer, according to Kuletz et al. (2024).
claimDolly Varden feed at an oceanographic front in the Chukchi Sea where euphausiid abundance is high.
claimCooper et al. (2023) studied the distribution, age-0 diet, and condition of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) in the Chukchi Sea during recent warm years.
referenceSpear et al. (2019) published a study titled 'Physical and biological drivers of zooplankton communities in the Chukchi Sea' in Polar Biology.
claimIn the Chukchi Sea, episodic environmental conditions create foraging hotspots for seabirds and marine mammals during the late summer and fall migration period, which may influence the timing and spatial patterns of migration, as reported by Kuletz et al. (2015).
claimBetween 2008 and 2011, Pacific walruses arrived earlier and stayed later in their Chukchi Sea summering areas compared to previous decades, a change in migration phenology driven by sea-ice changes in the Pacific Arctic.
claimHarbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) have been detected in Kotzebue Sound in the Chukchi Sea during mid-winter, which likely reflects a recent northward extension of their migration patterns.
claimPacific copepods occurred in mass numbers in the southern Chukchi Sea during summer, which researchers Kim et al. (2020) linked to the presence of high-temperature Bering summer water.
claimAn influx of juvenile walleye pollock and Pacific cod into the Chukchi Sea during the 2017–2019 warm phase caused ecosystem-wide impacts.
measurementDuring the period of 2017–2019, which included multiple marine heatwave events, the Chukchi Sea experienced high biomass of small zooplankton but low abundance of large nutrient-rich copepods and euphausiids, as reported by Spear et al. (2019) and Kim et al. (2020).
claimSeabird communities in the Northern Bering and Chukchi seas experienced distributional shifts in response to ocean warming between 2017 and 2019, according to Kuletz et al. (2020).
claimAncient murrelets and Kittlitz’s murrelets show a long-term trend of increasing numbers in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas during late summer and fall.
referenceNishizawa et al. (2017) analyzed the seasonal distribution of short-tailed shearwaters and their prey in the Bering and Chukchi seas.
claimFor short-tailed shearwaters, the Chukchi Sea represents the northernmost extent of their seasonal migration from breeding grounds in Australia, according to Yamamoto et al. (2015).
claimDuring an anomalously warm period from 2017 to 2019, significantly fewer Aethia auklets migrated into the Chukchi Sea in late summer and fall, and short-tailed shearwaters altered their distribution across the Chukchi Shelf, indicating that migration shifts are not a linear response to Arctic warming.
referenceGall, A. E., Morgan, T. C., Day, R. H., and Kuletz, K. J. (2017) published 'Ecological shift from piscivorous to planktivorous seabirds in the Chukchi Sea, 1975-2012' in Polar Biology, volume 40, pages 61–78, documenting a shift in seabird diet composition in the Chukchi Sea.
claimChukchi Sea polar bears are moving onto land for longer time periods due to reduced sea-ice cover, as reported by Rode et al. (2015; 2022).