Published

Credit: PAL LTER

Credit: PAL LTER

Humpback whale populations are growing at their biological maximum as they recover from intense  commercial whaling. New cetacean research at PAL LTER shows that humpbacks forage in close proximity to the penguins near Palmer Station, and in similar portions of the water column used by Adélie penguins during critical chick rearing periods. Palmer LTER researchers plan to quantitatively assess whether this observation is an indication of competition between baleen whales and penguins.

 

Learn more

  1. Schofield, O et al. 2018. Changes in upper ocean mixed layer and phytoplankton productivity along the West Antarctic Peninsula. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. doi 10.1098/ rsta.2017.0173
  2. Sailley, S et al. 2013. Carbon fluxes and pelagic ecosystem dynam¬ics around the West Antarctic Peninsula Adélie penguin colonies: An inverse model analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series. doi: 10.3354/ MEPS10534
  3. Brown, MS et al. 2019. Enhanced oceanic CO2 uptake along the rapidly changing West Antarctic Peninsula. Nature Climate Change. doi: 10.1038/s41558-019-0552-3

Contact

Oscar Schofield
oscar@marine.rutgers.edu

Posted:  July 10, 2020