Melting Arctic draws killer whales, threatening Inuit fishing Montreal (ANTARA News) - Killer whales are migrating farther north as the Arctic Ocean's ice cover melts, threatening the livelihood of the native Inuit who traditionally depend on fishing for their food, Canadian researchers said Saturday.
"We found a really direct correlation with decreasing ice in the Arctic and more observations of killer whales so we think they are moving further into the Arctic because of less ice," Steven Ferguson, a scientist at the arctic division of the Canadian fishing ministry, told AFP.
Ferguson's team last year was notified of spottings of the black and white orca, (Orcinus orca, popularly called killer whales) by scientists, tour operators and Inuit fishermen who criss-cross Hudson Bay, a North Canadian inland sea bigger than France.
In the 1980s, experts counted between five and 10 summer spottings of orca each year in the same area. That number jumped to about 30 last year, the Canadian researchers said.
During the same period, the ice cover in the Arctic has sharply declined.
Montreal (ANTARA News) - Killer whales are migrating farther north as the Arctic Ocean's ice cover melts, threatening the livelihood of the native Inuit who traditionally depend on fishing for their food, Canadian researchers said Saturday.
"We found a really direct correlation with decreasing ice in the Arctic and more observations of killer whales so we think they are moving further into the Arctic because of less ice," Steven Ferguson, a scientist at the arctic division of the Canadian fishing ministry, told AFP.
Ferguson's team last year was notified of spottings of the black and white orca, (Orcinus orca, popularly called killer whales) by scientists, tour operators and Inuit fishermen who criss-cross Hudson Bay, a North Canadian inland sea bigger than France.
In the 1980s, experts counted between five and 10 summer spottings of orca each year in the same area. That number jumped to about 30 last year, the Canadian researchers said.
During the same period, the ice cover in the Arctic has sharply declined.
"We found a really direct correlation with decreasing ice in the Arctic and more observations of killer whales so we think they are moving further into the Arctic because of less ice," Steven Ferguson, a scientist at the arctic division of the Canadian fishing ministry, told AFP.
Ferguson's team last year was notified of spottings of the black and white orca, (Orcinus orca, popularly called killer whales) by scientists, tour operators and Inuit fishermen who criss-cross Hudson Bay, a North Canadian inland sea bigger than France.
In the 1980s, experts counted between five and 10 summer spottings of orca each year in the same area. That number jumped to about 30 last year, the Canadian researchers said.
During the same period, the ice cover in the Arctic has sharply declined.
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