Climate change could push bowhead whales to cross paths with shipping traffic

The population of bowhead whales that migrates between the Bering and Beaufort Seas each year is a conservation success story, with today's population nearing—if not exceeding—pre-commercial whaling numbers. But climate change is shifting the whales' feeding grounds and migration patterns, potentially pushing them to spend more time in the paths of oncoming ships, according to a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.