We report two sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) strandings observed in the south-east corner of the Barents Sea (i.e., Pechora Sea) in 2018, unusually far from the species’ hitherto known distribution. While compiling a comprehensive overview of the occurrence of sperm whale sightings and strandings in the Russian Arctic, we learnt about one further stranding in the Pechora Sea, observed in 2017. All other records were from sites considerably closer to the species’ usual distribution. Reports from the eastern Russian Arctic suggest that sperm whales rarely, if ever, entered the Arctic from the Pacific Ocean. Although observed occurrences in the Russian Barents Sea have been few and sporadic, the occurrence of sperm whales in its south-eastern section appears to be a recent phenomenon, which is possibly related to declining sea-ice cover.

我们报告了两条抹香鲸（Physeter macrocephalus）在2018年在巴伦支海（即Pechora海）东南角观察到的搁浅现象，与该物种迄今已知的分布异常不同。在汇总俄罗斯北极发现抹香鲸和搁浅的情况的综合概述时，我们获悉了2017年在Pechora海发生的另一次搁浅。所有其他记录均来自与该物种通常分布更近的地点。俄罗斯东部北极地区的报道表明，抹香鲸很少（如果曾经有过）是从太平洋进入北极的。尽管在俄罗斯巴伦支海中观察到的事件很少且零星出现，但东南部的抹香鲸的出现似乎是最近出现的现象，这可能与海冰覆盖率下降有关。