Whale Fecal Samples Link Ocean Warming to Rising Algal Toxins in Arctic Waters

Rising toxins found in bowhead whales, harvested for subsistence purposes by Alaska Native communities, reveal that ocean warming is causing higher concentrations of algal toxins in Arctic food webs, according to new research published in the journal Nature.

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) were a part of the multi-institutional, multi-year study that focused on this critical issue, which threatens food security for coastal communities that rely on marine life, including clams, fish, and whales, for food and other resources. Communities in Alaska are now asking researchers to help them understand and monitor the emergence of algal toxins in the Arctic ecosystems that they depend on.

“Native communities know intimately the ecosystems they rely on and were among the first to recognize the effects of warming,” said Raphaela Stimmelmayr, a wildlife veterinarian with the North Slope Borough in Barrow, Alaska, and a coauthor of the new research. She said the communities now need reliable tools such as field tests, so they can test for the presence of algal toxins in traditional foods in real-time. These tests, as well as information from monitoring programs and instruments, also help them make informed decisions on whether the marine mammals or other marine