Researchers have found that the shrinking of Arctic sea ice is beneficial to large marine predators.
The researchers found that as sunlight has penetrated deep due to the reduction of the ice, squid, and cod have moved into these waters.
The move is explained by both having large eyes and using their vision as a primary hunting weapon. The light has opened up new opportunities for them. The reduction in ice has also opened up the water further for seals and walruses to expand their hunting territory.
According to Dr. Hauke Flores, a biologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven and study co-author:
“The availability of small and even some larger fish in the Atlantic water layer could explain why seals, walrus and polar bear can be found even at the North Pole. Both fish and mammals are very few, but they are there.”
