WWF’s polar bear coordinator, Geoff York, keeps up his field knowledge with trips out onto the ice to check on the condition of the bears. This year, he is keeping a daily blog of his experiences over two weeks. Keep visiting this blog for regular updates and live the life of a polar bear biologist.
By Geoff York
The weather has finally caught up to us this morning and its one of my least favorite North Slope forecasts: snow and blowing snow. Visibility is down to two miles and the snow is quickly forming new drifts around the village, so our decision is easy. It is no time to be out flying and is a welcome day of rest for our pilot. It will be a time for the rest of the crew to catch up with paperwork, label samples, and restock our pantry. As soon as the winds let up, and the snow subsides, the searching will be excellent out on the sea ice as any tracks will be fresh and the track maker not far ahead.
As I turn into bed tonight, the winds are rattling the bunkhouse and have picked up considerably. We are in a full Arctic spring storm and the sea ice will look quite different when the weather finally settles- which could be in the morning, or could be days away.
WWF’s polar bear coordinator, Geoff York, keeps up his field knowledge with trips out onto the ice to check on the condition of the bears. This year, he is keeping a daily blog of his experiences over two weeks. Keep visiting this blog for regular updates, photos, and maybe some video too, and live the life of a polar bear biologist.