Researchers combining long-term ship surveys, two aerial censuses and satellite tags report a marked increase in baleen whales using East Greenland coastal waters during ice-free summers. Systematic effort recorded no humpback whales in the area before 2006; sightings began that year and rose to hundreds by the mid-2020s. Aerial surveys conducted in 2015 and 2024, together with tracks from 15 tagged animals and observations from local hunters, were used to estimate summer visitation by approximately 4,000 humpbacks, 6,000 fin whales and 6,000 minke whales in 2024.
Scientists attribute the change to reduced summer sea ice and higher water temperatures that have allowed subarctic prey species to move into coastal Greenland, creating concentrated feeding opportunities for opportunistic baleen whales. The research team estimated the three species could consume on the order of 800,000 tonnes of fish and krill during a single summer feeding season. Lead researchers described the phenomenon as a regional ecological regime shift with winners and losers: while migrating baleen whales appear to exploit new habitat, ice‑dependent Arctic species such as narwhal and beluga face habitat loss and increased overlap with larger whales.
Authors and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources caution that it remains unclear whether observed numbers reflect overall population growth or redistribution from other areas, a question with social and management implications in Greenland where some whale species are hunted. The study was published in Frontiers in Marine Science.
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