Ilulissat Icebergs & Bowheads
Ilulissat Icefjord, Disko Bay, Greenland · Arctic & Subarctic · polar
About this place
Explore Sermeq Kujalleq iceberg upwelling and Balaena mysticetus extreme longevity & DNA-repair adaptations.
For kids: Sail among skyscraper icebergs where singing whales can live for more than two hundred years!
Ilulissat Icebergs & Bowheads · 360° Habitat Camp
What to look for
- Grounded skyscraper icebergs — Archimedes 90% submerged draft. Centre the grounded tabular and pinnacle icebergs at the fjord moraine sill
- Nutrient-rich meltwater channel — Calanus hyperboreus feeding lane. Locate the open-water channel where bowhead whales skim lipid-rich copepods
- Greenland ice-sheet glow — Ice-blink atmospheric reflection. Scan the bright 'ice-blink' sky glare reflected off the inland ice sheet
Source: Keane et al. (2015), Cell Reports — Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) genome reveals ERCC1/PCNA DNA-repair & >200-yr longevity.
Ask together: If almost nine-tenths of an iceberg hides underwater, why does ice still float instead of sinking like a rock?
Field quiz
Kids' question: About how long can an Arctic bowhead whale live in icy northern seas?
- More than two hundred years!
- Only five summers
- About twelve weeks
Answer
More than two hundred years!
Adults' question: What jazz-like acoustic trait sets Spitsbergen and Greenland bowhead whale songs apart from humpback songs?
- Simultaneous two-voice biphonic singing & dozens of completely new song repertoires each winter
- Purely ultrasonic 150 kHz clicks inaudible to hydrophones
- Total silence throughout winter darkness
- Copying passing ship engines
Answer
Simultaneous two-voice biphonic singing & dozens of completely new song repertoires each winter
360° photo: GreenlandEcosystemMonitoring, CC BY-SA 4.0
See it live: Live check: Northern Whale & Hydrophone Lookout
- By day
- Spouting humpback whales, resident orca pods, Dall's porpoises & sea lions OrcaLab's hydrophone network monitors cetacean acoustic dialects continuously without boat disturbance.
- By night
- Underwater whale calls on live hydrophones & misty strait tides At ~1,500 m/s in cold seawater, cetacean contact calls carry across tens of kilometres in complete darkness.
Other language: Русский