Giant whales move into Greenland waters as ice disappears - BBC News

Melting sea ice from climate change has opened up the region for giant whales to undertake "feeding frenzies".

Image source, Fernando UgarteImage caption, Fin whales feed in ice-free East Greenland waters, as scientists observe from their boats

Sea ice has been disappearing from East Greenland, allowing giant whales to take advantage and move into previously inaccessible areas.

That is the conclusion of a decades-long study that has recorded - and filmed - hundreds of the world's biggest whales including humpbacks, minke and fin whales, feeding in ice-free seas along the coast in summer.

None of these marine mammals were historically found here as they have been locked out of the coastal waters by ice. Now, as climate change warms the sea and melts that ice, they have adapted.

Scientists describe the result as seasonal Arctic "feeding frenzies" - part of a major regime shift in the ocean environment along East Greenland.