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Rapid climate change in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems is altering the spatio-temporal dynamics and abundance of resources. Whether highly mobile predators can respond and match their movements to changed resource peaks remains largely unclear. In the last decade, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) established a new foraging site in fjords of northern Norway during the winter, outside of their presumed foraging season. We used photographic matching to show that whales first sighted during fall in the Barents Sea foraged in northern Norway from late October to February, staying for up to three months and showing high inter-annual return rates (up to 82%). The number of identified whales increased steadily from 2010 to 2016. Genetic sexing and hormone profiling in both areas suggest higher proportions of pregnancy and a female bias in Norwegian waters. This indicates that the new site may be particularly important for pregnant females, likely to improve body condition before migration. Our results suggest that baleen whales can respond to nutritional opportunities along their migration pathways, in some cases by extending their feeding season. This supports the idea that migrating marine mammals can access novel prey resources as part of their response to environmental changes.

20 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13382.-- Data availability statement: Microsatellite genotypes are available on Dryad (DOI https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xgxd254gw), Aim: How historical and contemporary eco-evolutionary processes shape the patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation across species’ distribution range remains an open question with strong conservation implications. Focusing on the orange stony coral, Astroides calycularis, we (a) characterized the pattern of neutral genetic diversity across the distribution range; (b) gave insights into the underlying processes; and (c) discussed conservation implications with emphasis on a national park located on a hotspot of genetic diversity. Location: South Mediterranean Sea and Zembra National Park. Methods: We combined new data from 12 microsatellites in 13 populations located in the Centre and in the Western Periphery of the distribution range with a published dataset including 16 populations from the Western and Eastern Peripheries. We analysed the relationship among parameters of genetic diversity (He, Ar(g)) and structure (population-specific FST) and two measures of geographic peripherality. We compared two estimators of pairwise genetic structure (GST, DEST) across the distribution range. The evolutionary and demographic history of the populations following the Last Glacial Maximum was reconstructed using approximate Bayesian computations and maximum-likelihood analyses. We inferred the contemporary connectivity among populations from Zembra National Park and with the neighbouring area of Cap Bon. Results: We demonstrate a decrease in genetic diversity and an increase in genetic differentiation from the Centre to the Eastern and Western Peripheries of the distribution range. Populations from Zembra show the highest genetic diversity reported in the species. We identified a spillover effect towards Cap Bon. Main conclusions: The patterns of genetic diversity and differentiation are most likely explained by “the postglacial range expansion hypothesis” rather than the “central–peripheral hypothesis.” Enforcement of conservation measures should be considered to protect this genetic diversity pattern, in particular when considering the low effective population size inferred at many sites, JBL was funded by a Postdoctoral Grant (SFRH/BPD/74400/2010) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). This research was supported by national funds through FCT within the scope of UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 and by the MIMOSA project funded by the Foundation Prince Albert II Monaco. JG, DGG and PL acknowledge the funding of the Spanish government through the “Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S). This work was partially supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement SEP-210597628 (FutureMARES)