HONOLULU (AP) — Federal officials say research into the decline of humpback whale sightings in Hawaii points to a disruption in the food chain that is likely caused by warmer ocean temperatures in the whales' feeding grounds in Alaska.
U.S. and international researchers, wildlife managers and federal officials are meeting Wednesday in Honolulu to discuss the decline.
Christine Gabriele, a federal wildlife biologist who monitors humpbacks at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, says data presented Tuesday shows a strong correlation between warming oceans and the missing whales.
Three factors warmed the water in Alaska starting in 2014, the same year scientists noticed a decline in sightings in Hawaii.
There was a switch in an oscillating Pacific current, a warm El Nino period, and a massive "blob" of warm water in the region.
