Thousands of whales now visit a coast of Greenland every summer where they were still very rare a few decades ago.
The change concerns eastern Greenland, between 60° and 70° north latitude. Aerial surveys conducted in 2015 and then in 2024 found fin whales, humpback whales and minke whales there. Recent estimates reach several thousand animals for each of these three species.
The tail of a humpback whale disappearing beneath the ocean’s surface.
Illustrative image from Pexels
This presence is not simply an annual fluctuation. Earlier surveys conducted from ships had not observed any humpback whales in this area before 2007. More than 150 individuals were counted during observations in 2024. In 2025, groups of up to 50 humpback whales were even seen near the Blosseville Coast.
To understand this movement, we must first look at the ice. For centuries, the summer coastal sea ice restricted access for these large whales coming from more temperate regions. Its marked retreat since the early 2000s has opened up feeding areas that were previously difficult to reach.
But having a passage is not enough: there must also be food. A small fish called capelin has also shifted its range. After 2003, its autumn feeding grounds expanded farther from northern Iceland toward the Greenland continental shelf. Warming waters around Iceland may have contributed to this movement.
Distribution of observations of fin whales, minke whales and humpback whales during surveys conducted off eastern Greenland.
Source: Frontiers in Marine Science.
The two changes therefore come together in the same place. Whales can access coastal waters more easily and find large quantities of prey there. Observations and stomach contents from minke whales indicate that capelin plays an important role in their local diet.
Researchers estimate that around 4,000 humpback whales and several thousand fin whales are present in the study area during summer. For minke whales, the estimate rose from around 3,000 individuals in 2015 to more than 6,000 in 2024. These figures remain uncertain, and some unidentified cases are not included in the species-specific counts.
This new concentration of predators may alter how the ecosystem functions. Capelin also feeds other animals and plays a role in several food webs. The authors estimate that the three whale species could consume hundreds of thousands of tonnes of prey collectively during their seasonal stay.
What remains is to measure more precisely what these whales eat and how long they stay in the region. This data will make it possible to assess their actual pressure on capelin. It will also help clarify how this new influx of large predators interacts with fish targeted by fisheries.