Narwhal oceanographers

Tusking Narwhals

A team of scientists has been monitoring ocean temperatures off the coastal city of Nuuk, Greenland. They’re looking into how quickly the region’s climate is changing and we’re looking for the name of the stretch of water they’re exploring. It’s a sea that lies west of Nuuk – between Greenland and Canada.

Its not easy to measure water temperatures here, especially during the winter. The sea ice is dense, the weather can be harsh, and it’s expensive to mount scientific expeditions with ice breakers and helicopters. So these scientists have come up with an elegant solution: they’re enlisting what they call “biological oceanographers”.

The answer is Baffin Bay. A team of researchers from the US and Greenland studied ocean temperatures in Baffin Bay by attaching sensors to the dorsal fins of 14 Narwhals. Kristin Laidre, a biologist at the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory (Seattle) talks about the Narwhal research she’s been doing alongside scientists at Greenland’s Institute of Natural Resources.

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LISA MULLINS: Now, we’re leaving behind those icky bed bugs, and turning our attention to our nice, harmless Geo Quiz. A team of scientists has been monitoring ocean temperatures off the coastal city of Nuuk, Greenland. They’re looking into how quickly the region’s climate is changing. And we’re looking for the name of the stretch of water they’re now exploring. It’s a bay that lies west of Nuuk between Greenland and Canada. It’s not easy to measure water temperatures here, especially during the wintertime. The sea ice is dense, the weather can be pretty harsh and it’s expensive to mount scientific expeditions with ice breakers and helicopters. So these scientists have come up with an elegant solution. They’re enlisting what they call “biological oceanographers.” We’ll hear more about them, and reveal the answer to our quiz, in just a few minutes. Our Geo Quiz today takes us to the chilly ocean waters off the western coast of Greenland. Kristin Laidre is a polar science researcher. She’s working with Greenland’s Institute of Natural Resources in the city of Nuuk. Tell us where you’re studying climate change, in what part of the world?

KRISTIN LAIDRE:  We’re working in the west coast of Greenland in the Baffin Bay, a gateway for fresh water from the melting polar ice that flows through to the Labrador Shelf. So it’s a very important region for studying climate change and affects of global warming in the Arctic.

MULLINS:  And you’ve also got some residents there. They happen to be underwater residents who are helping you out.

LAIDRE: Yep, we’ve been working on Narwhals, which are small Arctic whales that live in Baffin Bay.

MULLINS: How small?

LAIDRE: Well, small is relative. Maybe about 16 feet long.

MULLINS: And you are using them for what purpose?

LAIDRE: We’re studying the biology and ecology of these whales, but we’ve also been using them to collect information on temperatures of the ocean in Baffin Bay.

MULLINS: How do you go about doing that?

LAIDRE: During the summer, we capture whales and we attach a small transmitter to their dorsal ridge and that transmitter collects information on their movements, their diving behavior and also temperature during their dives which can be up to 1,800 meters deep. They dive to the bottom which means that they can sample most of the water column.

MULLINS:  Like a mile below the surface?

LAIDRE: Exactly.

MULLINS: What did researchers like you do before you used Narwhals?

LAIDRE: The oceanographers, before the Narwhals, they actually mount a traditional oceanographic [INDISCERNIBLE], they go out in a large boat. Or you could also sample from a helicopter or a small plane.

MULLINS: And what have you found out so far thanks to the Narwhals?

LAIDRE: Well, they’re have been previous [INDISCERNIBLE] that have documented Baffin Bay as warming and we examined temperatures, the maximum temperatures in Baffin Bay and they are about .9 degrees Celsius warmer. [INDISCERNIBLE] measurement.

MULLINS: From previous measurements?

LAIDRE: The data collected from the Narwhal suggest that trend has continued.

MULLINS:  Have you ever tagged one of them yourself with one of these sensors?

LAIDRE: Yes, we catch them and tag them ourselves. Takes a lot of patience.

MULLINS: Really?

LAIDRE: Yeah, we [INDISCERNIBLE] and we essentially wait and hope that we catch one and many times we don’t. When we catch one, we bring the whale to the surface and then we are working at a small inflatable boat, so we basically have the whale next to our boat and then we lean over the side of the boat and attach the tag and then release the animal.

MULLINS: That’s an interesting image, Kristin, where you’re in a small inflatable boat next to a 16-foot whale [INDISCERNIBLE].

LAIDRE: Yeah, it’s not for everybody.

MULLINS: That’s for sure. Dr. Kristin Laidre is a polar researcher speaking to us from Greenland’s Institute of Natural Resources in Nuuk. The answer to our Geo Quiz is Baffin Bay. Nice to talk to you.

LAIDRE: Thanks. Nice to talk to you.

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