Zooplankton Research Sheds Light on Future Northern Bering Sea Ecosystem
New NOAA Fisheries research exploring the impact of unprecedented losses of sea ice on the northern Bering Sea ecosystem has identified a decline in high-fat copepods that are an important food source for many predators, and expansion of smaller zooplankton with warming waters.
From fish to whales, nearly every predator in the sea eats zooplankton or eats something that does, notes the study led by research oceanographer David G. Kimmel, with NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle.
The study concludes that this altered prey field may have contributed to ecosystem-wide impacts on fish, seabirds and marine mammals. The shift to smaller, more nearshore zooplankton may have contributed to dramatic impacts on commercially harvested fish, protected seabirds and marine mammals in r...