Humpback whales have been on the endangered species list since 1966. Climate change now poses the biggest threat to humpback whale populations as it is altering their feeding habitats in the Southern Ocean. Warmer temperatures have caused frontal zones to move south, requiring humpback whales to travel farther to find food. Sea ice coverage is also decreasing, which impacts krill populations that humpback whales rely on for sustenance. These climate-driven changes are decreasing whale foraging areas and reducing the availability of food.

1. HUMPBACK WHALES: A VICTIM OF
CLIMATE CHANGE
by Lizzy Beato, Sam Clark-Clough, Ali Hentges, and Kristin Kerbavaz

2. Humpback whales have been on the
endangered species list since 1966.

3. The biggest threat to the humpback whale
population is no longer commercial whaling.

4. Now Humpback whales are being
threatened by climate change

5. Humpback whales travel thousands of kilometers in
the summer every year to the Southern Ocean to feed
on krill and cephalopods, such as squid and cuttlefish.

6. Recently, however, when they finally reach their
destination, they find it to be dramatically
different from the Southern Ocean
of earlier years.

7. In the past 50 years, the western Antarctic
Peninsula has warmed at more than four times
the average rate of world-wide climate change.

8. Frontal zones are predicted to move southward
which means that humpback whales will have
to travel 200 to 500 kilometers south to feed.

9. Area covered by sea ice is projected to
decrease by 10-15%.

10. Loss of sea ice means a shift
in species composition and
less diatoms, which krill eat.

11. Less food for krill will result in less krill.

12. A loss of sea is will decrease whale foraging
habitat and food supply.