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The Earth's polar regions are low rates of inter‐ and intraspecific diversification. An extreme mammalian example is the Arctic ringed seal (Pusa hispida hispida), which is assumed to be panmictic across its circumpolar Arctic range. Yet, local Inuit communities in Greenland and Canada recognize several regional variants; a finding supported by scientific studies of body size variation. It is however unclear whether this phenotypic variation reflects plasticity, morphs or distinct ecotypes. Here, we combine genomic, biologging and survey data, to document the existence of a unique ringed seal ecotype in the Ilulissat Icefjord (locally 'Kangia'), Greenland; a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is home to the most productive marine‐terminating glacier in the Arctic. Genomic analyses reveal a divergence of Kangia ringed seals from other Arctic ringed seals about 240 kya, followed by secondary contact since the Last Glacial Maximum. Despite ongoing gene flow, multiple genomic regions appear under strong selection in Kangia ringed seals, including candidate genes associated with pelage coloration, growth and osmoregulation, potentially explaining the Kangia seal's phenotypic and behavioural uniqueness. The description of 'hidden' diversity and adaptations in yet another Arctic species merits a reassessment of the evolutionary processes that have shaped Arctic diversity and the traditional view of this region as an evolutionary freezer. Our study highlights the value of indigenous knowledge in guiding science and calls for efforts to identify distinct populations or ecotypes to understand how these might respond differently to environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using social media, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources collected data on the occurrence of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) in 2019. Eighty‐four pink salmon were reported from 22 locations across Greenland. This comprised 76 specimens from 2019 and 8 specimens from 2013 to 2018. Of these, 12 were caught in fresh water, and a single pink salmon was from the bottom of the Nuuk Fjord near the Kapisillit River – the only known river in Greenland where the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) spawn. It is unknown if pink salmon have reproduced in Greenland waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of terrestrial surface runoff to Ilulissat Icefjord, west Greenland, is simulated for the period 2009-13 to better emphasize the spatiotemporal variability in freshwater flux and the link between runoff spikes and observed hydrographic conditions at the Greenland Ice Sheet tidewater glacier margins. Runoff model simulations were forced with automatic weather station data and verified against snow water equivalent depth, equilibrium line altitude, and quasi-continuous salinity and temperature observations obtained by ringed seals. Instrumented seals provide a novel platform to examine the otherwise inaccessible waters beneath the dense ice mélange within the first 0-10 km of the calving front. The estimated mean freshwater flux from land was 70.6 ± 4.2 km3 yr−1, with an 85% contribution of ice discharge from Jakobshavn Isbrae (also known as Sermeq Kujalleq), 14% from runoff, and the remaining 1% from precipitation on the fjord surface area, subglacial geothermal melting, and frictional melting due to basal ice motion. Runoff was simulated to be present from May to November and to vary spatially according to glacier cover and individual catchment size. Salinity and temperature observations correlate (significantly) with simulated runoff for the upper part of both the main fjord and southern fjord arm. Also, at the tidewater glacier margins in the northern and southern arm of Ilulissat Icefjord, salinity changes in the upper water column (upper 50 m) are significant after temporal spikes in runoff during late summer, while small-amplitude runoff variability during the recession of runoff did not create a clear signal in observed salinity variability. Also, in the southern arm near the glacier margin (between 100- and 150-m depth), the heterogeneous distribution in salinity could be because of the mixing of meltwater going upward from passing the grounding line. The effect of runoff spikes on observed salinity is less pronounced near the ice margin of Jakobshavn Isbrae than in the north and south arms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jakobshavn Glacier, west Greenland, has responded to temperature changes in Ilulissat Icefjord, into which it terminates. This study collected hydrographic observations inside Ilulissat Icefjord and from adjacent Disko Bay between 2001 and 2014. The warmest deep Disko Bay waters were blocked by the entrance sill and did not reach Jakobshavn Glacier. In the fjord basin, the summer mean temperature was 2.8°C from 2009 to 2013, excluding 2010, when it was 1°C cooler. Despite this variability, summer potential densities in the basin were in the narrow range of 27.20 ≤ σ θ ≤ 27.31 kg m−3, and basin water properties matched those of Disko Bay in this layer each summer. This relation has likely held since at least 1980. Basin waters from 2009 and 2011-13 were therefore similar to those in 1998/99, when Jakobshavn Glacier began to retreat, while basin waters in 2010 were as cool as in the 1980s. The 2010 basin temperature anomaly was advected into Disko Bay, not produced by local atmospheric variability. This anomaly also shows that Ilulissat Icefjord basin waters were renewed annually or faster. Time series fragments inside the fjord did not capture the 2010 anomaly but show that the basin temperatures varied little subannually, outside of summer. Fjord velocity profiles from summer 2013 implied a basin renewal time scale of about 1 month. In model simulations of the fjord circulation, subglacial discharge from Jakobshavn Glacier could drive renewal of the fjord basin over a single summer, while baroclinic forcing from outside the fjord could not, because of the sill at the mouth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zoonotic infections transmitted from marine mammals to humans in the Baltic and European Arctic are of unknown significance, despite given considerable potential for transmission due to local hunt. Here we present results of an initial screening for Brucella spp. in Arctic and Baltic seal species. Baltic ringed seals ( Pusa hispida, n  = 12) sampled in October 2015 and Greenland Sea harp seals ( Pagophilus groenlandicus , n  = 6) and hooded seals ( Cystophora cristata , n  = 3) sampled in March 2015 were serologically analysed for antibodies against Brucella spp. The serological analyses were performed using the Rose Bengal Test (RBT) followed by a confirmatory testing of RBT-positive samples by a competitive-enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA). Two of the Baltic ringed seals (a juvenile male and a juvenile female) were seropositive thus indicating previous exposure to a Brucella spp. The findings indicate that ringed seals in the Baltic ecosystem may be exposed to and possibly infected by Brucella spp. No seropositive individuals were detected among the Greenland harp and hooded seals. Although our initial screening shows a zoonotic hazard to Baltic locals, a more in-depth epidemiological investigation is needed in order to determine the human risk associated with this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]