Unlike the other whales, this whale didn’t have a humpback or dorsal fin but did have an unusual head. The researchers determined it to be a bowhead whale, making this the first sighting of this species in southeast Alaska.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Photo Credit: NOAA <\/p>\n
This whale species lives in Arctic and subarctic waters, making the discovery of this one puzzling and leaving scientists with unanswered questions about how and why the whale made its way to the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The researchers released a scientific paper in July on the discovery, and, according to the Bee<\/a>, lead author Ellen Chenoweth explained in a press release: “This is the first documented sighting of a bowhead whale in southeast Alaska. It’s not the furthest south they have been seen, but it’s very notable because of how far it is from its typical range. It raises a lot of questions about what was going on with this animal that we can’t answer.”<\/p>\n Why is this sighting important?<\/p>\n While the sighting of a new creature is always exciting<\/a>, the fact that the bowhead whale was so far from its natural habitat is concerning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Increasingly, wildlife species must leave<\/a> their natural habitats because of changing ecosystems, loss of natural resources, and extreme weather<\/a> events. The researchers who discovered this whale believe it was in the Alaskan region due to changes in the Arctic’s ecosystem and expect more sightings of the animal in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, scientists had no way of figuring out whether the bowhead whale they spotted was healthy or not. If a lack of resources resulting from a changing climate forces this species to migrate<\/a>, some of the whales could very well end up injured, sick, or even dead, contributing to the depopulation of the species. Considering the whale is already listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act<\/a>, this could lead to extinction.\u00a0<\/p>\n Without the bowhead whale present, ecosystems will be thrown more out of balance, resulting in a cascading effect of consequences that will also impact human populations.\u00a0<\/p>\n What’s being done to help bowhead whales?<\/p>\n NOAA Fisheries<\/a> works with the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to minimize the impact of federal agency activities in the areas where these whales live to help protect their home and well-being.<\/p>\n Additionally, as Indigenous peoples have hunted this whale species for the past 2,000 years, the two agencies co-manage subsistence hunts, thereby protecting both Eskimo culture and the bowhead whale from overhunting.<\/p>\n Join our free newsletter<\/a> for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list<\/a> of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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