Climate changing outlook for harp seals (BBC)
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News
Warming oceans and melting sea ice may have a major impact on harp seals, the doe-eyed animals that are the prime target for Canada's annual seal hunt.
Researchers from Duke University in the US found that sea ice in the seals' breeding grounds has shrunk by about 6% per decade over the last 30 years.
In some recent years, they say, entire years' broods of cubs may have died.
The species is abundant; the Duke team says its future depends on how it can adjust to new climatic conditions.
"Most studies of Arctic sea ice and climate change have focussed on the annual ice minimum in September," said Duke's David Johnston, who led the new study, reported in the journal PLoS One.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16408327
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0029158
= new reply since forum marked as read
