ABSTRACT
Predicting the effect of climate change on marine mammals is a monumental task, similar to predicting if climate change will affect the marine environment at all. Some species are sedentary and local in distribution, while others migrate from warm, temperate breeding grounds thousands of kilometers away to summer feeding grounds among the Arctic ice. Marine mammals feed on zooplankton, larger invertebrates, fish, and other marine mammals. The chapter provides an overview of the marine mammals inhabiting the North Pacific and then reviews the effects of environmental temperature change on marine mammals in terms of physiological tolerances and effects on prey abundance. Potential effects due to habitat loss are discussed for the various species. Using short-term fluctuations as a model, general predictions are offered on how long-term oceanic warming may impact marine mammals in the North Pacific.
