Dear MARMAM Community, My co-authors and I are pleased to announce our new publication in *Northwestern Naturalist*:
Lomac-MacNair, K., Wisdom, S., De Andrade, J. P., Stepanuk, J. E., Anderson, M., Zoidis, A., & Esteves, E. (2022). Large whale occurrence in northeastern Chukchi and southern Beaufort Seas from vessel surveys, 2008-2014. *Northwestern Naturalist*, 103(2), 136-153. https://doi.org/10.1898/NWN21-11 ABSTRACT With global climate change and increasing ocean-based human activities, large whales face novel challenges in the Arctic seas. Understanding and assessing large whale occurrence and the links between occurrence and environmental variables in this region is a key issue in current management and conservation strategies for Arctic marine mammal species. During the Chukchi Sea Environmental Studies Program, large whale occurrence data were collected from vessel surveys during >56,909 km of observation effort in summer and autumn, 2008 to 2014, in the northeastern Chukchi, southern Beaufort, and Bering Seas. The most-recorded species were the Bowhead (*Balaena mysticetus*) and Gray (*Eschrichtius robustus*) Whales. Subarctic species recorded included the Humpback Whale (*Megaptera novaeangliae*), Fin Whale (*Balaenoptera physalus*), and Minke Whale (*Balaenoptera acutorostrata*). Sightings data were analyzed with respect to environmental variables: sea-surface temperature (SST), depth (m), and distance from shore (km), by month and year. Investigating occurrence associations with environmental parameters is a key element for predicting large whale trends in these Arctic seas and for understanding marine mammals as sentinels of oceanic shifts. Our paper is available online: https://doi.org/10.1898/NWN21-11 Or via e-mail request: [email protected] Cheers, Kate Lomac-MacNair, PhD
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