Novel observations of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) in Archer Fjord, northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

Marine mammal biodiversity and rare narwhal (Monodon monoceros) observations near northern Ellesmere Island, Canada

“…During our two surveys in August 2018 (Yurkowski et al 2019) and 2019 (this study), narwhals, Atlantic walruses, and bearded seals were only observed within the two transects covering Archer Fjord and Lady Franklin Bay (Appendix S1: Fig. S1).…”

“…The number of Atlantic walrus individuals observed in Archer Fjord in 2019 (n = 21 visual and three photographic) was higher than 2018 (n = 7 visual and 1 photographic; Yurkowski et al 2019). The presence and observations of numerous Atlantic walruses in Archer Fjord for two consecutive years support the range extension of the current Atlantic walrus distribution proposed by Yurkowski et al (2019). The number of seal observations in Archer Fjord was also greater in 2019 (n = 34 seals) compared with the 2018 surveys (n = 3).…”

“…In total, 57 survey transects were flown covering 1054 km 2 (Appendix S1: Fig. S1; see Yurkowski et al 2019 for more details). We photographed 29 individual narwhals (seven adult males, seven adult females, one yearling, and 14 unknowns due to submergence on 14 August 2019), three Atlantic walrus (18 August 2019), 30 ringed seals (14 and 18 August 2019), and four bearded seals (14 August 2019) along 2 transects covering 84.12 km 2 in Archer Fjord and Lady Franklin Bay (Figs.…”

“…S2). In particular, the sea-ice conditions from Smith Sound and Kane Basin in the south to Hall Basin and Nares Strait in the north likely acts as a choke point moderating the ability of marine mammals such as narwhal and Atlantic walrus to reach Archer Fjord (COSEWIC 2004, Higdon and Ferguson 2009, Yurkowski et al 2019). An earlier sea-ice breakup in 2019 may have also changed the timing and biomass of phytoplankton blooms and increased the summer availability of marine resources in the region (e.g., Arrigo and van Dijken 2015).…”

“…In August 2015 in Petermann Fjord, Greenland, an area adjacent to the southeastern portions of Tuvaijuittuq, an ice breaker-based survey observed ringed seals, bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus), harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus), and polar bears (Lomac-McNair et al 2018, Lomac McNair et al 2019. In August 2018, MAP-Last Ice completed the first summer aerial surveys to document marine mammal occurrence within Tuvaijuittuq and observed Atlantic walruses in Archer Fjord -an area much farther north than their previously recorded range (Yurkowski et al 2019). To build on these findings, we conducted aerial surveys in August 2019 where we observed a broader diversity of marine mammal species than in August 2018, and most notably, narwhal farther north than their currently recognized range in Canada (Lowry et al 2017, Hobbs et al 2019.…”