EXPLORING DATA SOURCES TO EVALUATE ECOLOGICAL CHANGES TO THE NORTH PACIFIC HUMPBACK WHALE MIGRATION

Kennedy S Allen; University of Hawaii at Manoa; Kallen3@hawaii.edu;

The Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) - is a highly migratory species that follows various migration routes on a continental level. In the North Pacific, populations of Humpback Whales migrate from their feeding grounds in southeastern Alaska to the warm waters of Hawai’i in the winter to breed. Over the previous decades, the ecosystem of the Gulf of Alaska has been impacted by climate change, causing the area to experience severe marine heatwaves. Specifically the 2014- 2016 marine heatwave changed the ecology of the region, reducing populations of various sea life. Despite the recent concern about climate change, little is known about its impact on humpback whales and their migratory patterns. Focusing on the Hawai’i - Alaska migration, I plan to fill in these gaps by assessing data sets and exploring previous studies done by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Alaska Department of Fish & Game, and public platforms such as Happy Whale to analyze why and how the North Pacific migration might be changing.

Poster Session   Student Paper