Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a cosmopolitan species, migrating between their mid- and high latitude foraging- and low latitude breeding grounds. Of these, the Northeast Atlantic (NEA-) population cover the longest migration distance of all mammals that last up to half a year. On the foraging grounds they feed extensively throughout the summer until early winter to gain enough energy ...

The substantial influx of freshwater to High Arctic coastal ecosystems influences nutrient, organic matter, and sediment dynamics, stratification, and light availability throughout the melt season. These changes shape pelagic microbial community composition and functioning, though little is known about impacts on nearshore benthic bacteria. Globally, mudflats are hotspots for biogeochemical cycling, ...

Shortening winters and changing ice and snow cover conditions are examples of the many shifts expected in subarctic lakes due to climate change. Well-documented changes in ice and snow cover conditions highlight the need to understand under-ice ecosystems and the consequences a changing climate brings to the freshwater biota. This study investigated the impact of under-ice environmental conditions ...

Interactions involving parasites often account for large proportions of links within aquatic food webs, yet few studies integrate parasites into their food web analyses. This analysis compares three sets of highly resolved food webs that differ in taxa composition, space, and time for a subarctic lake system. Key topological food web metrics, including connectance, linkage density, and mean generality ...

Birds are endothermic homeotherms that regulate internal metabolic heat production to keep a stable body core temperature. Lung ventilation, which is required to obtain oxygen for metabolism, is potentially a large source for heat and water loss. In a polar habitat with low year-round temperatures and scarcity of food in the winter, conservation of heat and water is crucial for survival of the ...

Knowing the metabolic rate of marine mammals is often important as baseline knowledge of their biology and physiology, e.g., to allow ecosystem assessments and estimation of their resource needs and use, and prey requirements. However, our current knowledge of energetics of large cetaceans is limited compared to many smaller cetaceans. Determining the energy expenditure of large free-ranging whales ...

Citizen science is increasingly used to include in ecological monitoring over the past three decades. Web-based applications or smart phones enable citizens to record observations or experiences at larger temporal and spatial scale and provide opportunities for a larger number of citizens to participate in mapping observations. Citizen science can also be used to record, or map observed and experienced ...

Colony nesting is thought to be an example of the selfish herd strategy, where aggregating behaviour may be an evolutionary adaptation to reduce the risk of predation. The common eider (Somateria mollissima) is a ground nesting sea bird susceptible to high nest predation rates through the nesting period. They often nest in groups, yet some also choose to nest solitarily. I examined whether group ...

Studying baleen whales is challenging and complex, where observation of their habitat, sensory modalities, behavior and physiology, are infrequent and brief. The biochemical and biophysical contribution of mysticetes serve a vital role in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem, but they are facing anthropogenic threats. Before giving any indications of how these threats affect the baleen whales, it ...

The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is an anadromous salmonid that begins its life cycle in freshwater streams then, develops, in a process known as smoltification, into a marine-adapted fish prior to its migration to the sea. Smoltification is a photoperiod regulated process which involves extensive change in the salmons’ physiology. In recent years smoltification procedures in aquaculture has been ...