A new study provides a unique reconstruction of the occurrence of marine mammals around northern Greenland during the last 12,000 years.

The results are based on analysis of ancient DNA in marine sediments cores and show shifting distributions of different species of whales and seals related to changes in sea ice cover and temperature. The marine sediment cores were recovered during several different research cruises to Baffin Bay, the Nares Strait, Lincoln Sea and the continental shelf offshore northeast Greenland. Analysis of sedimentary ancient DNA in sediment samples allows the researchers to detect the presence of many different marine mammals without finding their actual fossils.

The results showed that during past periods of warmer climate, many species migrated northward, following the retreating sea ice. The findings provide a baseline for the response of marine mammals to natural climate change, and are essential for understanding and predicting the future fate of these Arctic ecosystems under pressure from anthropogenic climate change. 

For more information, please visit the open-access publication at Nature Communications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59731-0