BBC News - A world built on ice and whales
The whales appear to be fatter than in the recent past.
Craig George, a scientist based in Barrow, has correlated records going back into the last century, and believes the whales do better in warmer years with less ice, perhaps because they can stay longer in the northern feeding grounds.
And the Inupiat say the feeding season is now a couple of weeks longer than it used to be.
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Fish grow larger in cold waters because, as poikilotherms (cold-blooded organisms) their metabolisms are lower and they spend more energy growing than maintaining, as has to be done in warmer waters. For every 10 deg C temperature rise, metabolism about triples.
However, for warm-blooded (homeothermic) mammals, they have to spend energy maintaining body temperature against the cold, even with loads of blubber insulation. Their metabolism is a constant, so warmer waters would lead to less energy loss and fatter , larger whales. This is besides the longer feeding seasons that warmer waters might afford.
@chuckhigley that's fascinating. Do you have some links on those correlations?
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