Spitsbergen's bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) were hunted to near extinction in the world's first commercial whaling enterprise; this population clearly remains threatened, but nothing is known about its distribution, making assessment unfeasible. In this study, we document range, movement patterns and habitat preferences of this population, based on tagging done from an icebreaker-based helicopter. Despite their reduced abundance, Spitsbergen's bowhead whales occupy much of their historical range, stretching across the northern Barents Region from East Greenland eastward to Franz Josef Land. Unlike larger bowhead populations to the west, they do not migrate in a classical sense, but rather disperse from wintering grounds in the northernmost parts of their range during spring, returning northward again in autumn, a pattern opposite in terms of directionality compared to other Arctic bowhead whale populations. The extreme affiliation of this population with cold, ice-filled waters is a concern given ongoing climate warming and concomitant rapid sea ice habitat loss.

中文翻译：

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躲藏了数百年之后，濒临灭绝的斯匹次卑尔根弓头鲸的秘密就暴露了出来。

斯匹次卑尔根的弓头鲸（Balaena mysticetus）在世界上第一家商业捕鲸企业中被猎杀到几乎灭绝。该人口显然仍然受到威胁，但对其分布情况一无所知，使评估不可行。在这项研究中，我们基于破冰直升机上的标记，记录了该种群的范围，活动模式和栖息地偏好。尽管其数量减少了，但斯匹次卑尔根州的弓头鲸仍占据了其历史范围的大部分，从东部格陵兰东部一直延伸到弗朗兹·约瑟夫土地，横跨北部的巴伦支地区。与西方较大的弓bow种群不同，它们没有传统意义上的迁徙，而是在春季从分布范围最北端的越冬地散布，在秋天再次向北迁徙，与其他北极弓头鲸种群相比，方向性相反。考虑到持续的气候变暖和随之而来的迅速的海冰栖息地流失，该人群与冰冷，充满冰的水域之间的极端隶属关系令人担忧。