North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and its food: (II) interannual variations in biomass of Calanus spp. on western North Atlantic shelves

Abstract

The North Atlantic right whale (NARW), Eubalaena glacialis, feeds on zooplankton, particularly copepods of the genus Calanus. We quantified interannual variation in anomalies of abundance and biomass of Calanus spp. and near-surface and near-bottom ocean temperature and salinity from 19 subregions spanning the Gulf of Maine–Georges Bank (GoM–GBK), Scotian Shelf (SS), Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL) and Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves. We analyzed time series from 1977 to 2016 in GoM–GBK, 1982 to 2016 in southwest GSL and 1999 to 2016 in remaining areas. Calanus finmarchicus dominated abundance and biomass, except in the GSL where Calanus hyperboreus was abundant. The biomass of Calanus spp. declined in many subregions over years 1999–2016 and was negatively correlated with sea surface temperature in GoM–GBK and on the SS. We detected ``regime shifts” to lower biomass of Calanus spp. in the GoM–GBK in 2010 and on the SS in 2011. In the GoM–GBK, shifts to lower biomass of C. finmarchicus coincided with shifts to warmer ocean temperature and with published reports of changes in spatial distribution and reduced calving rate of NARW. We hypothesize that warming has negatively impacted population levels of Calanus spp. near their southern range limit, reducing the availability of prey to NARW.