Can Southern Right Whales Adapt If Food Becomes Scarce?
Feb. 9, 2009 – University of Utah biologists discovered that young “right whales” learn from their mothers where to eat, raising concern about their ability to find new places to feed if Earth’s changing climate disrupts their traditional dining areas. “A primary concern is, what are whales going to do with global warming, which may change the location and abundance of their prey?” asks Vicky Rowntree, research associate professor of biology and a coauthor of the new study. “Can they adapt if they learn from their mother where to feed – or will they die?” For a month after birth, Southern right whale mothers and their calves rest and nurse. Then, like the pair shown here off Argentina, they start to swim faster and farther as they prepare for a long migration in the South Atlantic to reach their feeding areas. A University of Utah study found mother whales teach their calves where to eat, raising concern about whether the whales can adapt as global warming disrupts feeding grounds. Pho
