Narwhals may help monitor ice sheet

• Autores: Adam Popescu
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3127, 2017, pág. 10
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • When run-off from ice melt hits the sea and glaciers calve off icebergs, it stirs up the ocean ecosystem and brings nutrients to the surface, increasing the narwhals' food supply. Kristin Laidre, an ecologist at the University of Washington, has found that the unicorn-like whales are spending so much time around melting ice that this seems to have become their preferred habitat. She says people can make use of their new habits to collect hard-to-get data on ice melt. The idea is that whales could be fitted with thermometers, allowing the first effective measurement of underwater glacial melt, which has been hard to study accurately.