It's good, for some, hard to process, and momentary

Dr Sue Moore.

We are so used to negative news about climate change it is a little hard to process this.

The Arctic ice melt is creating a "new normal" in the far northern marine ecosystem that has created conditions for a whale population boom.

Biological oceanographer Dr Sue Moore from the US Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle said that the loss of sea ice in late northern summer means that "ocean habitat for cetaceans has expanded".

Read Marcus Strom’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Melting Arctic ice a boon for humpback, minke whales.”