Right Whales Fail To Return To Bay Of Fundy As Both Fish And Plankton Stocks Shift North

[hatrack]

A mystery is unfolding in the waters of the North Atlantic. Every summer and autumn, numbers of North Atlantic right whales gather in the waters between the eastern Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to feed on massive amounts of zooplankton.

But this year the right whales—one of the rarest and most endangered animals on earth—have not turned up in a stretch of water called the Bay of Fundy.

EDIT

Various marine species, including cod and red hake, have been moving more to the north in recent years. A study by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that of 36 fish stocks examined, more than half were shifting northwards or to greater depths to compensate for warming water temperatures. Lobster and shrimp—vital to the Gulf of Maine’s fishing industry—are also believed to be moving to cooler waters further north.

Shifts in stocks of species at the base of the food chain—phytoplankton and zooplankton—are thought to be due both to warming waters in the north-west Atlantic and to changes in ocean currents. Scientists have shown that the melt of Arctic sea ice, together with more melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Canada, is likely to mean more freshwater being poured into the north-west Atlantic, leading to increased stratification of ocean waters and alterations in plankton stocks.

EDIT

http://ecowatch.com/2013/12/09/whales-desert-feeding-grounds-climate-change-to-blame/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whales-desert-feeding-grounds-climate-change-to-blame

[liberal N proud]

1. At first, I thought this thread was political

With Right Whales and Fundy. My thought was that maybe the whales that fund the right wing stopped funding the fundies which would have been a good thing.

But no, this is an environmental change where species are not doing what they used to do. A BAD THING!!!

[dipsydoodle]

2. Me too.

[hatrack]

3. Though if Fundy were "Fundies" and tides equalled "stupid" . . . .

Fundy does have the highest tides in the world.