Marine heat wave linked to 20% drop in North Pacific humpbacks: Study [Video]

A massive new international study is raising concerns about the effect of warming oceans on the health of humpback whale populations.

The study found a 20-per cent drop in the population of North Pacific humpback whales between 2012 and 2022 appears to be linked to the 2014-2016 marine heat wave known as “the blob.”

“It’s just yet another indicator of our impacts as humans and that we do need to understand we are having ecosystem-level changes … from the bottom of the ecosystem all the way up to these large marine mammals,” said Karina Dracott, senior North Coast specialist with Oceanwise.

Forty-six organizations, including seven in B.C., along with more than 4,000 citizen scientists contributed to the study, believed to be the largest-ever photo-identification dataset assembled for a species of cetacean.

The study, published recently in the journal Royal Society Open Science, found an estimated 33,500 humpbacks in the North Pacific in 2012, with …