Change in the Beaufort Sea ecosystem: Diverging trends in body condition and/or production in five marine vertebrate species

Studies of the body condition of five marine vertebrate predators in the Beaufort Sea, conducted independently during the past 2–4 decades, suggest each has been affected by biophysical changes in the marine ecosystem. We summarize a temporal trend of increasing body condition in two species (bowhead whale subadults, Arctic char), in both cases influenced by the extent and persistence of annual sea ice. Three other species (ringed seal, beluga,...