Little is known about the distribution, abundance and diet of marine mammals and birds in offshore areas in the Baffin Bay –Davis strait marginal ice zone. The objectives was to monitor marine mammals and birds in the Southern and Central Baffin bay during the phytoplankton spring bloom 2016. To describe the geographical (GPS position) relationship among species and observations across the MIZ. Relate the distribution and abundance of birds to the local abundance and biomass of juvenile Polar cod across the MIZ. Perform bird sampling with a shotgun from the zodiac to later compare the diet of sampled birds (Northern Fulmar, thick-billed murre, little auk, blacklegged kittiwake and glaucous gull) and polar cod to find any overlap. Test the hypothesis that seabirds prey on Polar cod.

Link to Isaaffik webpages.

PI: Anders Mosbech