Thousands of whales surge into East Greenland as ice vanishes, study finds

Thousands of humpback, fin, and common minke whales are now congregating along the East Greenland coast in numbers never recorded in modern history, drawn by climate-driven shifts in prey and ice cover, according to a study published in Frontiers in Marine Science.frontiersin

The research, led by Prof. Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, synthesizes ship-based observations from 1987 to 2025, aerial surveys, satellite-tagged whale movements, and knowledge from Inuit hunters to document what the authors call a "major ecological regime shift."bbc+1

An Unprecedented Influx

Ship-based surveys recorded zero humpback whale sightings in East Greenland waters prior to 2006. By 2007, seven were observed. By 2024, researchers logged over 150 sightings from ships alone. In August 2025, crews reported mixed aggregations of up to 50 baleen whales feeding simultaneously near 69°N.a-z-animals+2

The study estimates that during the summer of 2024, at least 4,000 humpback whales, 6,000 fin whales, and 6,000 minke whales visited the Greenland Sea. The combined prey consumption of these species during their roughly four-month seasonal residency is estimated at approximately one million tonnes annually, consisting largely of capelin and krill.discoverwildlife+2

Following the Fish

The driver behind this migration is capelin, a small forage fish central to North Atlantic food webs. Sea surface temperatures off East Greenland have risen by around 2°C since the 1990s — making it one of the most rapidly warming sea areas in the world. As waters north of Iceland warmed, capelin shifted their feeding grounds northwest into the newly opened Greenland Sea, and the whales followed.a-z-animals+2

"This has led to regular mixed 'feeding frenzies' of fin whales, humpback whales and common minke whales — species which historically were only rarely observed in coastal East Greenland," Heide-Jørgensen told the BBC.discoverwildlife+1

Winners and Losers

While the influx represents a short-term gain for baleen whale populations still recovering from 20th-century commercial whaling, it poses challenges for ice-dependent Arctic species. Narwhals, bowhead whales, and ringed seals evolved around the protection of sea ice, and the arrival of thousands of large temperate predators introduces competition into a historically low-density ecosystem.discoverwildlife+1

"For some species, climate change is not inherently detrimental — it creates new opportunities," Heide-Jørgensen said. "However, other species are experiencing a loss of their habitat."bbc