Redefining North Atlantic right whale habitat‐use patterns under climate change

Abstract

Changes in the physical oceanography of the Northwest Atlantic stemming from both natural and anthropogenic climate change impact the foraging ecology and distribution of endangered North Atlantic right whales. In this study, right whale sightings from 1990 to 2018 were analyzed to examine decadal patterns in monthly habitat use in 12 high‐use areas. Depth‐integrated abundances of late‐stage Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus hyperboreus were also analyzed for decadal variations in the right whale foraging habitats. There were significant differences in the occurrence, seasonal timing, and persistence of foraging habitats across these three decades. In the decades of the 1990s and the 2010s, prey was less abundant than in the 2000s, corresponding to reduced use of the Southeast US calving grounds in the winter, increased use of Cape Cod Bay in winter and spring, and reduced use of Roseway Basin in the fall. In the 2010s, right whale sightings increased in Southern New England and the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the spring and summer, respectively. Summertime declines in the 2010s in late‐stage copepod abundances in the Gulf of Maine and surrounding regions, as well as in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, indicate that recent increased use of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is driven by a decline in prey in traditional foraging habitats rather than by an increase in prey in the new foraging habitat. This analysis of decadal‐scale differences in right whale sightings and prey abundance is critical for redefining right whale distribution patterns for the most recent (post‐2010) decade.