Register      Login
Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > MF > MF07161
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 59(5)

Changes in the Antarctic sea ice ecosystem: potential effects on krill and baleen whales

Stephen Nicol A B E , Anthony Worby B C and Rebecca Leaper D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Southern Ocean Ecosystems, Australian Antarctic Division, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia.

B Australia and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, Private Bag 80, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.

C Ice Oceans Atmosphere and Climate, Australian Antarctic Division, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts, Channel Highway, Kingston Tasmania 7050, Australia.

D Australian Centre for Applied Marine Mammal Science, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts, Australian Antarctic Division Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: Steve.Nicol@aad.gov.au

Marine and Freshwater Research 59(5) 361-382 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF07161
Submitted: 7 September 2007  Accepted: 5 April 2008   Published: 6 June 2008

Abstract

The annual formation and loss of some 15 million km2 of sea ice around the Antarctic significantly affects global ocean circulation, particularly through the formation of dense bottom water. As one of the most profound seasonal changes on Earth, the formation and decay of sea ice plays a major role in climate processes. It is also likely to be impacted by climate change, potentially changing the productivity of the Antarctic region. The sea ice zone supports much wildlife, particularly large vertebrates such as seals, seabirds and whales, some exploited to near extinction. Cetacean species in the Southern Ocean will be directly impacted by changes in sea ice patterns as well as indirectly by changes in their principal prey, Antarctic krill, affected by modifications to their own environment through climate change. Understanding how climate change will affect species at all trophic levels in the Southern Ocean requires new approaches and integrated research programs. This review focuses on the current state of knowledge of the sea ice zone and examines the potential for climatic and ecological change in the region. In the context of changes already documented for seals and seabirds, it discusses potential effects on the most conspicuous vertebrate of the region, baleen whales.

Additional keywords: climate change, exploitation.


Acknowledgements

This paper has benefited from many discussions with colleagues at the IWC and in other forums and from the detailed comments provided by referees. This research was supported by the Australian Antarctic Division and the Australian Government Cooperative Research Centres Programme through the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre (ACE CRC).


References

Ackley, S. F. , and Sullivan, C. W. (1994). Physical controls on the development and characteristics of Antarctic sea ice biological communities – a review and synthesis. Deep-Sea Research. Part I, Oceanographic Research Papers 41(10), 1583–1604.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Bannister J. L. (2002). Baleen whales (Mysticetes). In ‘Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals’. (Eds W. F. Perrin, B. Wursig and J. G. M. Thewissen.) pp. 63–72. (Academic Press: San Diego, CA.)

Bannister, J. L. , and Hedley, S. L. (2001). Southern Hemisphere Group IV humpback whales: their status from recent aerial surveys. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 47(2), 587–598.
Best P. B., Brandão A., and Butterworth D. S. (2005). Updated estimates of demographic parameters for southern right whales off South Africa. Paper SC/57/BRG2 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, June 2005 (unpublished). [Available from the Office of this Journal.]

Boyd I. L. (2002). Antarctic marine mammals. In ‘Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals’. (Eds W. F. Perrin, B. Wursig and J. G. M. Thewissen.) pp. 30–36. (Academic Press: San Diego, CA.)

Branch, T. A. , and Butterworth, D. S. (2001). Southern Hemisphere minke whales: standardised abundance estimates from the 1978/79 to 1997/98 IDCR-SOWER surveys. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 3(2), 143–174.
Budylenko G. A. (1977). Distribution and composition of sei whale schools in the Southern hemisphere. Report of the International Whaling Commission 1(special issue), 121–123.

Burns, J. , Costa, D. , Fedak, M. , Hindell, M. , Bradshaw, C. , and Gales, N. , et al. (2004). Winter habitat use and foraging behaviour of crabeater seals along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Deep-Sea Research. Part II, Topical Studies in Oceanography 51, 17–19.
Clapham P. J., and Baker C. S. (2002). Whaling, modern. In ‘Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals’. (Eds W. F. Perrin, B. Wursig and J. G. M. Thewissen.) pp. 1328–1332. (Academic Press: San Diego, CA.)

Constable A. J., Southwell C. J., and Meyer L. (2000). Regional surveys of land-based predators, and a future synoptic survey of land-based predators. Report of correspondence on behalf of the SC-CAMLR Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management SC-CCAMLR-XIX/5.

Constable, A. J. , Nicol, S. , and Strutton, P. G. (2003). Southern Ocean productivity in relation to spatial and temporal variation in the physical environment. Journal of Geophysical Research 108(C4), 8079.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Cooke J. G., Rowntree V. J., and Payne R. (2003). Analysis of intra-annual variation in reproductive success of South Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena australis) from photo-identification of calving females observed off Península Valdés, Argentina, 1971–2000. Paper SC/55/O23 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, May 2003 (unpublished). [Available from the Office of this Journal.]

Corkeron, P. J. , and Connor, R. C. (1999). Why do baleen whales migrate? Marine Mammal Science 15, 1228–1245.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Curran M. A. J., van Ommen T. D., Morgan V. I., Phillips V. L., and Palmer A. S. (2003). Ice core evidence for sea ice decline since the 1950s. Science 302, 1203–1206.

Dawbin W. H. (1966). The seasonal migratory cycle of humpback whales. In ‘Whales, dolphins and porpoises’. (Ed. K. S. Norris.) pp. 145–170. (University of California Press: Berkley and Los Angeles, CA.)

de Baar, H. J. W. , de Jong, J. T. M. , Bakker, D. C. E. , Loscher, B. M. , Bathmann, U. V. , and Smetacek, V. (1995). Importance of iron for phytoplankton blooms and carbon dioxide drawdown in the Southern Ocean. Nature 373, 412–415.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | de la Mare W. K. (in press). Changes in Antarctic sea-ice extent from comparing direct historical observations and whaling records. Climatic Change.

Donovan, G. P. (1991). A review of IWC stock boundaries. Report of the International Whaling Commission 13(special issue), 39–68.
El-Sayed S. Z. (1994). History, organisation and accomplishments of the BIOMASS Program. In ‘Southern Ocean Ecology: The BIOMASS Perspective’. (Ed. S. Z. El-Sayed.) pp. 1–8. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

Ensor, P. (1989). Minke whales in the pack ice zone, East Antarctica, during the period of maximum annual ice extent. Report of the International Whaling Commission 39, 219–225.
Friedlaender A. S., Lawson G. L., and Halpin P. N. (2006a). Evidence of resource partitioning and niche separation between humpback and minke whales in Antarctica: implications for interspecific competition. Paper SC/58/E32 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, June 2006 (unpublished). 37 pp.

Friedlaender, A. S. , Halpin, P. N. , Qian, S. S. , Lawson, G. L. , Wiebe, P. H. , and Thiele, D. , et al. (2006b). Whale distribution in relation to prey abundance and oceanographic processes in shelf waters of the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Marine Ecology Progress Series 317, 297–310.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Gedamke J., Gales N., Hildebrand J. A., and Wiggins S. (2007). Seasonal occurrence of low frequency whale vocalizations across eastern Antarctic and Southern Australian Waters, February 2004 to February 2007. International Whaling Commission, Paper SC/59/SH5, Anchorage.

Gersonde, R. , Crosta, X. A. , Abelmann, A. , and Armand, L. (2005). Sea-surface temperature and sea ice distribution of the Southern Ocean at the EPILOG Last Glacial Maximum – a circum-Antarctic view based on siliceous microfossil records. Quaternary Science Reviews 24, 869–896.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Gloersen P., Campbell W. J., Cavalieri D. J., Comiso J. C., Parkinson C. L., and Zwally H. J. (1992). ‘Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice 1978–1987: Satellite Passive-microwave Observations and Analysis.’ (National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Washington, DC.)

Greene, C. H. , and Pershing, A. J. (2004). Climate and the conservation biology of the North Atlantic Right Whales: being a right whale at the wrong time? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2, 29–34.
Hewitt R. P., and Lipsky J. D. (2002). Krill. In ‘Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals’. (Eds W. F. Perrin, B. Wursig and J. G. M. Thewissen.) pp. 676–684. (Academic Press: San Diego, CA.)

Hewitt, R. P. , Demer, D. A. , and Emery, J. H. (2003). An 8-year cycle in krill biomass density inferred from acoustic surveys conducted in the vicinity of the South Shetland Islands during the Austral summers of 1991/92 through 2001/2002. Aquatic Living Resources 16, 205–213.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Hofmann E. E., and Klinck J. M. (1998). Thermohaline variability of the waters overlying the West Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf. In ‘Ocean, Ice, and Atmosphere Interactions at the Antarctic Continental Margin’. (Eds S. S. Jacobs and R. F. Weiss.) pp. 67–81. (American Geophysical Union: Washington, DC.)

Hofmann, E. E. , Wiebe, P. H. , Costa, D. P. , and Torres, J. J. (2004). Integrated ecosystem studies of Western Antarctic Peninsula continental shelf waters and related Southern Ocean regions. Deep-Sea Research. Part II, Topical Studies in Oceanography 51(17–19), 1921–1924.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Horwood J. (1987). ‘The Sei Whale: Population Biology, Ecology, and Management.’ (Croom Helm: London.)

Huntley, M. E. , Karl, D. M. , Niiler, P. , and Holm Hansen, O. (1991). Research on Antarctic coastal ecosystem rates (Racer): an interdisciplinary field experiment. Deep-Sea Research 38(8–9A), 991–942.
International Whaling Commission (1980). Report of the Scientific Committee. Report of the Special Meeting on Southern Hemisphere sei whales, Cambridge 18–21 June 1979. Report of the International Whaling Commission 30, 493–505.

International Whaling Commission (1991). Report of the Scientific Committee. Annex E. Report of the Sub-Committee on Southern Hemisphere minke whales. Report of the International Whaling Commission 41, 113–124.

International Whaling Commission (1995). Report of the Scientific Committee. Annex E. Report of the Sub-Committee on Southern Hemisphere baleen whales. Report of the International Whaling Commission 45, 120–141.

International Whaling Commission (1996). Report of the Scientific Committee. Annex E. Report of the Sub-Committee on Southern Hemisphere baleen whales. Report of the International Whaling Commission 46, 117–138.

International Whaling Commission (2001a). Report of the Scientific Committee. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management (Suppl.) 3, 1–63.

International Whaling Commission (2001b). Report of the workshop on the comprehensive assessment of right whales: a worldwide comparison. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 2, 1–60.

International Whaling Commission (2006). The IWC Summary Catch Database (unpublished). [Available from the Office of this Journal.]

International Whaling Commission (2007a). Report of the Scientific Committee. Annex F. Report of the Sub-Committee on bowhead, right and gray whales. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management (Suppl.) 9, 142–155.

International Whaling Commission (2007b). Report of the Scientific Committee. Annex H. Report of the Sub-Committee on other Southern Hemisphere whale stocks. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management (Suppl.) 9, 188–209.

IPCC (2007). ‘Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Chate.’ (Eds S. Solomon, D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K. B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H. L. Miller.) (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

Jacka T. H. (2005). Northern extent of Antarctic sea ice cover at each 10 degrees of longitude. Antarctic CRC and Australian Antarctic Division Climate Data Sets.

Jacobs S. S., Fairbanks R. G., and Horibe T. (1985). Origin and evolution of water masses near the Antarctic continental margin: Evidence from H218O/H216O ratios in seawater. In ‘Oceanology of the Antarctic Continental Shelf’. (Ed. S. S. Jacobs.) pp. 59–85. (American Geophysical Union: Washington DC.)

Jarman S. N., Wiseman N., Baker C. S., and Gales N. J. (2006). Incidence of prey DNA types in Bryde’s whale scats. Paper SC/58/E29 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, June 2006 (unpublished).

Kanda, K. , Takagi, K. , and Seki, Y. (1982). Movement of the larger swarms of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba off Enderby Land during 1976–77 season. Journal of the Tokyo University of Fisheries 68(1/2), 24–42.
Kasamatsu F., Ensor P., and Joyce G. G. (1997). Preliminary investigations on aggregations of minke whales in the Ross Sea, Weddell Sea and Prydz Bay. Paper SC/49/SH1 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, September 1999 (unpublished). [Available from the Office of this Journal.]

Kasamatsu, F. , Ensor, P. , and Joyce, G. G. (1998). Clustering and aggregations of minke whales in Antarctic feeding grounds. Marine Ecology Progress Series 168, 1–11.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Kawaguchi S., Ichii T., Naganobu M., and de la Mare W. K. (1998). Do krill and salps compete? Contrary evidence from the krill fisheries. CCAMLR Science 5, 205–216.

Kawamura, A. (1980). A review of food of balaenopterid whales. Scientific Report of the Whales Research Institute 32, 155–197.
Longhurst A. R. (1998). ‘Ecological Geography of the Sea.’ (Academic Press: San Diego, CA.)

Mackintosh, N. A. (1972). Life cycle of Antarctic krill in relation to ice and water conditions. Discovery Reports 36, 1–94.
Matsuoka K., Watanabe T., Ichii T., Shimada H., and Nishiwaki S. (2000). Large whale distributions in relation to the southern boundary of the ACC in Antarctic areas IV and IIIE using JARPA 1997/98 data. Paper SC/52/E4 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, June 2000 (unpublished). [Available from the Office of this Journal.]

Matsuoka, K. , Ensor, P. , Hays, G. C. , Shimada, H. , Nishiwaki, S. , and Kasamatsu, F. , et al. (2003). Overview of minke whale sightings surveys conducted on IWC/IDCR and SOWER Antarctic cruises from 1978/79 to 200/01. Journal of Cetacean Research and Management 5(2), 173–201.
Miyashita T., Kato H., and Kasuya T. (1995). ‘Worldwide Map of Cetaceans Sightings Based on Japanese Sighting Data.’ (National Institute of Far Seas Fisheries: Shimizu, Japan.)

Moline, M. A. , Claustre, H. , Frazer, T. K. , Schofield, O. , and Vernet, M. (2004). Alteration of the food web along the Antarctic Peninsula in response to a regional warming trend. Global Change Biology 10, 1973–1980.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Nemoto T., Kawamura A. (1977). Characteristics of food habits and distribution of baleen whales with special reference to the abundance of North Pacific sei and bryde’s whales. Report of the International Whaling Commission.

Nicol, S. (2006). Krill, currents and sea ice; the life cycle of Euphausia superba in relation to its changing environment. Bioscience 56(2), 111–120.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Nicol S., Worby A. P., Strutton P. G., and Trull T. W. (2006). Oceanographic influences on Antarctic ecosystems: a summary of observations and insights from East Antarctica (0°–150°E). In ‘The Sea’. (Eds A. Robinson and K. Brink.) pp. 1493–1534. (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.)

Ohsumi, S. (1979). Population assessment of the Antarctic minke whale. Report of the International Whaling Commission 29, 407–420.
Ross R. M., Hofmann E. E., and Quetin L. B. (1996). Distribution of the Antarctic krill and dominant zooplankton west of the Antarctic Peninsula. In ‘Foundations for Ecological Research in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Region’. (Eds R. M. Ross, E. E. Hofmann and L. B. Quetin.) pp. 199–217. (American Geophysical Union: Washington DC.)

Ross R. M., Quetin L. B., Vernet M. K., Baker S., and Smith R. C. (2000). Growth limitation in young Euphausia superba under field conditions. Limnology and Oceanography 45(1), 31–43.

Rothrock, D. A. , Yu, Y. , and Maykut, G. A. (1999). Thinning of the Arctic sea ice cover. Geophysical Research Letters 26, 3469–3472.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Shimada H., and Kato H. (2005). Preliminary report on a sighting survey of Antarctic minke whale within ice field conducted by the Ice Breaker, Shirase in 2004/05. Paper SC/57/IA7 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee, June 2005 (unpublished). [Available from the Office of this Journal.]

Siegel, V. (2005). Distribution and population dynamics of Euphausia superba: summary of recent findings. Polar Biology 29, 1–22.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Tamura T., and Konishsi K. (2006). Food habit and prey consumption of Antarctic minke whale Balaenoptera bonaerensis in the JARPA research area. Paper SC/D06/J18 presented to the IWC Scientific Committee JARPA Review Workshop, December 2006 (unpublished). [Available from the Journal of this Office.]

Taylor, R. J. F. (1957). An unusual record of three species of whale being restricted to pools in Antarctic sea ice. Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society 129, 325–331.
Thomas D. N., and Dieckmann G. S. (Eds) (2003). ‘Sea ice – An Introduction to its Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geology.’ (Blackwell Publishing: Oxford.)

Tormosov, D. D. , Mikhaliev, Y. A. , Best, P. B. , Zemsky, V. A. , Sekiguchi, K. , and Brownell, R. L. (1998). Soviet catches of Southern Right Whales Eubalaena australis, 1951–1971. Biological Conservation 86, 185–197.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Trathan P. N., Murphy E. J., Forcada J., Croxall J. P., Reid K., and Thorpe S. (2006). Physical forcing in the southwest Atlantic: ecosystem control. In ‘Top Predators in Marine Ecosystems: their Role in Monitoring and Management’. (Eds I. L. Boyd, S. Wanless and C. J. Camphuysen.) pp. 28–45. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

Tucker, W. B. , Weatherly, J. W. , Eppler, D. T. , Farmer, L. D. , and Bentley, D. L. (2001). Evidence for rapid thinning of sea ice in the western Arctic Ocean at the end of the 1980s. Geophysical Research Letters 28, 2851–2854.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Watkins J. (2000). Sampling krill – direct sampling. In ‘Krill Biology, Ecology and Fisheries’. (Ed. I. Everson.) pp. 8–19. (Blackwell Science: Oxford.)

Watkins, J. L. , Hewitt, R. P. , Naganobu, M. , and Sushin, V. (2004). The CCAMLR 2000 Survey: a multinational, multi-ship biological oceanography survey of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Deep-Sea Research. Part II, Topical Studies in Oceanography 51(12–13), 1205–1213.
Webb D. J., Killworth P. D., and Thompson A. C. (1991). ‘FRAM Atlas of the Southern Oceans.’ (Natural Environment Research Council: Swindon, UK.)

Weimerskirch, H. , Inchausti, P. , Guinet, C. , and Barbraud, C. (2003). Trends in bird and seal populations as indicators of a system shift in the Southern Ocean. Antarctic Science 15(2), 249–256.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Worby A. P., Massom R. A., Allison I., Lytle V. I., and Heil P. (1998). East Antarctic sea ice: A review of its structure, properties and drift. In ‘Antarctic Sea Ice: Physical Processes, Interactions and Variability’. (Ed. M. O. Jeffries.) pp. 41–67. (American Geophysical Union: Washington, DC.)

Wursig B., Reeves R. R., and Ortega-Ortiz J. G. (2002). Climate change and marine mammals. In ‘Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation’. (Eds P. G. H. Evans and J. A. Raga.) pp. 589–608. (Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers: New York, NY.)

Yu, Y. , Maykut, G. A. , and Rothrock, D. A. (2004). Changes in the thickness distribution of Arctic sea ice between 1958–1970 and 1993–1997. Journal of Geophysical Research 109, C08004.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Yuan, X. (2004). ENSO-related impacts on Antarctic sea ice: a synthesis of phenomena and mechanisms. Antarctic Science 16(4), 415–425.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Zhou, M. , and Dorland, R. D. (2004). Aggregation and vertical migration behaviour of Euphausia superba. Deep-Sea Research. Part II, Topical Studies in Oceanography 51(17–19), 2119–2137.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |