Tag Archives: svalbard

Headed out in search of bears

From the field, Polar bears,

NPI researchers and Brutus Ostling, Canon ambassador, prepare to take off for polar bear survey. © Tom Arnbom / WWF-Canon

NPI researchers and Brutus Ostling, Canon ambassador, prepare to take off for polar bear survey. © Tom Arnbom / WWF-Canon


From April 11 to 21, 2014, join a Norwegian Polar Institute and WWF-Canon scientific expedition to collect critical data about Europe’s most westerly polar bear population. The population on and around the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is facing a future without summer sea ice. See all posts from the expedition here.
Pitch and roll, pitch and roll as we settled into our bunks last night. Just enough seas to make things interesting. A thud on the hull at 5 AM followed by a familiar hiss and occasional shudder stirs me to wake. The boat motion is now perfectly still and it takes a minute to discern if we are still moving. Outside the port hole, the churning seas are now solid white- we are in the ice. While not a heavy ice breaker, the Lance is capable of cruising through shore fast and most first year ice.
When I come up to the bridge, we are almost at 80 degrees latitude approaching the north western tip of Spitsbergen and passing by the old Dutch whaling station of Smeerenburg. Those on our team that are new to the Arctic are already on deck with cameras and binoculars taking stock of this fascinating new sea and icescape. Our videographer Rhineout is all smiles as he jumps from spot to spot looking for unique viewpoints, oblivious to the -17 C temperatures. The bow of the ship is also a frozen ice-scape as spray from our evening cruise in rough seas is frozen on the rigging and anything metallic on deck.
We’ll spend much of the day maneuvering into Woodfjiorden where NPI has a collared female polar bear they hope to recapture. The weather shifts from localized dense fog patches to clear blue skies. Sea bird sightings are common and include guillemots, little auks, fulmars, and even two ivory gulls. Walrus are seen early-morning and we pass closely by five bearded seals mid-day before arriving in the fjord and launching the first helicopter survey.
Polar bear research on the cutting edge

As a polar bear field biologist, this is a great opportunity for me to talk with my colleagues at NPI, Jon Aars and Magnus Anderson, to compare notes and share experiences. Unfortunately, due to schedules and distance, this is altogether too rare amongst our colleagues globally. Each region we work in is unique in some aspects of both general ecology and bear behavior. In Svalbard polar bears share the marine world with the usual suspects- walrus, ringed and bearded seals, along with beluga and the rare bowhead whale, but they also have species here that are new to me- harp and hooded seals, narwhal and fin whale to name a few. NPI also have their own uniquely laid out capture kits and systems of working on bears to collect samples once sedated. This year they are testing an exciting new dart delivery system that, if successful, will be much less invasive than current equipment.
The team at NPI is also pioneering work in the use of geo-location ear tags that store a surprising amount of data on a chip set the size of a small coin- including temperature. These smart tags can provide coarse location data, but the temperature and light information may be able to identify denning events. New technology, improved capture tools, and advances in the drugs available for wildlife capture will continue to advance our understanding of this sentinel species and how it is responding to rapid changes in the Arctic environment.
Changes we are already seeing in real time as both the fjords around Longyearbyen and the one we sit in now should be covered in first year, shore fast ice- but both are completely ice free. Jon has worked here now for 11 years and has never seen so little ice. This not only complicates his research (he cannot safely land on the young ice still available in some areas), it also complicates life for the bears, especially females emerging from maternal dens and looking to hunt on the ice for much needed calories.
Our colleagues also remind us that it’s not just the ice that is missing, parts of Svalbard are receiving less snowfall, and this is starting to impact the primary food of the polar bear- ringed seals. Researchers in eastern Spitsbergen are estimating near complete failure of ringed seal recruitment (survival of newborns to adulthood) in some areas and years due to lack of snow cover for their normally protective snow lairs. This may be an indicator of changes to come as other parts of the Arctic warm, and it is not good news for polar bears.

The world is not as it used to be

From the field, Polar bears,

The icebreaker "Lance", northeastern Svalbard. © Brutus Ostling / WWF-Canon

The icebreaker “Lance”, northeastern Svalbard. © Brutus Ostling / WWF-Canon


 
From April 11 to 21, 2014, join a Norwegian Polar Institute and WWF-Canon scientific expedition to collect critical data about Europe’s most westerly polar bear population. The population on and around the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is facing a future without summer sea ice. See all posts from the expedition here.
I remember when I visited Svalbard for the first time, it was more than 20 years ago during summer, we had a hard time with the ship going up the west coast of Svalbard due to sea ice. Today, the sea on the west coast of Svalbard does not even freeze in winter, despite temperatures far below minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Before, it was possible to cross fiords and bays with skidoos close to the settlement Longyearbyen. Today you have to drive along the shore with the skidoo and what before took ten minutes takes hours, due to lack of sea ice.

These dramatic changes in sea ice distribution are close to Hopen Island. This was the best denning area for the polar bears. It was here that polar bears came ashore in late autumn when the sea ice froze to dig a den in the snow. During the last few years, the freezing of the winter sea ice has been more and more delayed and fewer polar bears managed to get ashore, while the ice edge was too far away.
The ones which did land on Hopen ran into a huge problem when they came out of the den with their cubs. This is the time of the year when ringed seal pups  – the main diet for polar bears – are found on the ice. So, when the mothers and her cubs came out of the den they encountered an open sea and were literally stranded. The sea ice was already gone and with it the ringed seal pups.
Magnus is a polar bear scientist who works for the Norwegian Polar Institute and has twenty years experience in the area. Magnus says he has never seen anything like this year. Even fiords and large bays in northern Svalbard have not frozen and where there is ice, it is so thin that the researchers can not work there without the risk of breaking through the ice.
To get to the thicker sea ice we have to head to northeastern Svalbard – above 80 degrees North, far above the Arctic Circle. Here we hope to find fast sea ice and hopefully lots of polar bears. This area was in fact out of bound not long ago due to heavy sea ice conditions in the summer time. Now we are going there in winter. The world is not as it used to be, and the sea ice melt goes incredibly fast.
It is sometimes hard to notice gradual changes, but here in Svalbard, the change is dramatic. The rich ecosystems that have evolved around sea ice might disappear, not too long into the future.

First day in-and-out of the sea ice

From the field, Polar bears,

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© Brutus Ostling / WWF-Canon


By Gert Polet
Cracking ice pushed aside by the Lance, wakeup call at 5:00. We are entering Smeerenburgfjord, named after the Dutch settlement Smeerenburg (blubber town), the largest 17th century Dutch whaling station on Svalbard. In the peak whaling years, some 250 Dutch vessels were busy catching slow moving bowhead whales in large numbers  – the blubber was cooked here to oil which lighted the streets of Amsterdam. The demise of the whale population caused the first oil crisis – and the bowhead whale has still not recovered in the North Atlantic, the closest estimate is that there are 200 nowadays. We spot bearded seal sunning on the thick sea ice.
Then, when entering the waters North of Spitsbergen island, open water. Little auks fly pass in small groups. Two ivory gulls call to us their strange call when they pass by, we are happy to see this rare gull of the Arctic which is completely snowy white.
Jon, the polar bear expert of the Norwegian Polar Institute, decides we move into Woodfjord and Liefdefjord – said to be named after named after the Dutch ship the Liefde (love) which sank here.
The fog lifts, the sun breaks through, slowly revealing the spectacular rugged mountains covered in snow and the gentle glaciers which reach all the way to the sea. A fairytale country which makes one silent and quiet. But it is strange that the fjord is completely open. Jon, who has been here every year since 2003 has never seen this fjord without ice around this time of year. He showed some pictures of holes in the little ice he encountered last week, with blood on the ice – killed pups of ringed seals. Ringed seals never come on land and depend on sea ice for their young to be born. This year it appears that there is not only hardly any sea ice but also just a few centimetres of snow, too thin for ringed seals to dig a protective snow cave for their young. This year many young seals are easily detected and killed by polar bears, glaucous gulls and arctic foxes. The breeding success in nearby Kongsfjorden is closely monitored by NPI colleagues of Jon and since 2005, not a single ringed seal born there survived because of too little snow. It not yet clear whether the ringed seal population is heading for a steady decline or whether they go elsewhere to calve where there is sea ice. And if ringed seals go, polar bears will find it harder to find food.
The NPI crew decides to check the coastline for polar bears and dens. They expect polar bears along the beaches, eager to find sea ice to get onto, in search of seals. Soon the helicopter lifts off and becomes a tiny black spot against the enormous white mountains surrounding this marvellous fjord. I remember the polar bears and fin whales of last year in this exact place. Waiting for their return we have a look at Monaco glacier – a few years ago a new islet emerged from underneath the retreating glacier. Will Jon have had success finding the female with the satellite collar? If he manages to give her a new collar we will have a subsequent year of information about the movements of her in the coming year!

Svalbard at 3AM

From the field, Polar bears,

Late night sun over Svalbard. © Brutus Östling / WWF-Canon

Late night sun over Svalbard. © Brutus Östling / WWF-Canon


From April 11 to 21, 2014, join a Norwegian Polar Institute and WWF-Canon scientific expedition to collect critical data about Europe’s most westerly polar bear population. The population on and around the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is facing a future without summer sea ice. See all posts from the expedition here.
3 AM…that’s my new wake up time when I travel to Europe or Russia…right on time…3 AM. This is new to me, a champion sleeper for most of my life and I can only assume it relates to getting a bit older, regardless, it is usually unwelcome. Today though- I remember where I am, Longyearbeyen on the Svalbard Islands well inside the Arctic at 78 degrees latitude. My Swedish colleague Tom is happily asleep across our purposefully rustic looking bunk room at the Basecamp Lodge. We are fortunate to stay in this unique place built to resemble the original trapper cabins and filled with old photographs and bits of Svalbard history.
While I’ve had the privilege to see much of the Arctic through both work and leisure, this is my first time in Svalbard. We were treated to a glimpse of the striking landscape last night when the clouds cleared to the West unveiling a beautiful scene of steep snowcapped peaks rising from the sea across the fjord. As I try to fall back asleep, my thoughts drift towards a far more fanciful description of this distant place- the Kingdom of the Ice Bears in the book “The Golden Compass”.  My eyes quickly grow heavy as I look around my “cabin” and the clear daylight still sneaking through the window blinds- land of the midnight sun indeed.
When I re-awaken at a more reasonable hour, the team meets for a classic breakfast of cheese, breads, herring, smoked salmon, tomatoes, and cucumber- and there is always plain yogurt and granola it seems. Our partners at the Norwegian Polar Institute run us down to the awaiting Research Vessel Lance where we will spend the next 12 days at sea. She is a remodeled and repurposed coast guard vessel designed for the ice. With a crew of 11, she is fully kitted out and will be a comfortable home. The only downside, her skill in the ice is due in part to a fairly flat bottom that can challenge for passenger comfort in rough seas- which we encounter just before dinner!
As I write this at 8 PM, we have sailed out of Bellsund into the open Atlantic (nothing now between us and Greenland), and have turned north towards Prince Karls Forland. The snow and low clouds we had on our departure have become sun and blue skies- revealing once again the stunning physical beauty of this land of snow and ice.

Route change

From the field, Polar bears

No ice in the fjord near Longyearbyen, Svalbard. © Brutus Ostling / WWF-Canon

No ice in the fjord near Longyearbyen, Svalbard.
© Brutus Ostling / WWF-Canon


From April 11 to 21, 2014, join a Norwegian Polar Institute and WWF-Canon scientific expedition to collect critical data about Europe’s most westerly polar bear population. The population on and around the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is facing a future without summer sea ice. See all posts from the expedition here.
When we came in for a landing at Longyearbyen, the fiord was totally open, no sea ice at all. Something which was unthinkable not too long ago. You could easily drive a skidoo on the fiords as it was the quickest way to transport yourself along the western coast. Today, you will make a belly flop and kill the skidoo. It takes days to get to places which before was just a few hours away.
At the airport Jon Aars, Norwegian polar bear scientist, greeted us and told us immediately that we may have to change the route for the expedition while some dramatic shifts have happened to the sea ice. Last year the sea ice froze much later than usual around Svalbard. Female polar bears on their way to their usual denning areas on the islands Hopen and Kung Karl, would have been challenged to get there due to lack of sea ice, they have no ”ice road”. They had to go somewhere else, and therefore most of the females must have given birth somewhere else. In addition, this year’s sea ice in the south east is so thin that the researchers cannot safely work in that area. They would risk the helicopter falling into the sea. That is why we will head north to the thicker ice edge and fiords with ice. So the bears are likely already responding to the shifting sea ice.
Tom on what we hope to learn from the expedition
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGzUwaHAQcw[/youtube]
 

Setting off for Svalbard

From the field, Polar bears,

A Norwegian Polar Institute and WWF-Canon scientific expedition sets off tomorrow to collect critical data about Europe’s most westerly polar bear population. The population on and around the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is facing a future without summer sea ice. A recently published paper suggests the area will be ice-free in summer by 2050.
“We don’t know what the future holds for these bears,” says Geoff York, WWF lead on polar bears. “We do know that bear populations deprived of sea ice for significant amounts of time are less likely to survive or breed successfully.”
The research team is on the lookout for polar bear denning sites on the islands, where females go to give birth. There is some evidence that the population is moving away from traditional sites, and the movement may well be linked to changes in sea ice. It is not clear where new sites may be, but there is reason to believe they may be on islands further to the east where the ice stays longer.
The NPI researchers on the expedition will place satellite collars on bears to enable tracking their routes over the next year or so. Comparing the bears’ positions to satellite information about the sea ice will help explain the bears’ response to ice conditions, and help project likely future adaptations. Four of the bears collared this year will be trackable on WWF’s polar bear tracker as soon as the collars are activated, allowing people around the world to follow the bears.
The expedition is sponsored by Canon Europe, Conservation Imaging Partner of WWF International. Canon has a longstanding partnership with WWF that goes back over sixteen years, using imaging expertise to help WWF record and promote awareness of the state of the environment and climate change. It is supplying photographic equipment for this project and sponsoring a leading Swedish wildlife photographer and Canon Ambassador, Brutus Östling, to capture images of the wildlife encountered along the way.

Svalbard bear update – N26135

From the field, Polar bears, ,

In April 2013, our partners at the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) began tracking a number of polar bears on Svalbard using GPS-enabled collars.  Here, NPI’s Magnus Andersen updates us on their behaviours. See all bears on the Polar Bear Tracker.

Kara, aka N26135, was tagged in Svalbard in spring. During the summer and autumn months, she performed a record long journey from Svalbard past Franz Josef Land in Russia and all the way to Severnaya Zemlja.
When the sea ice cover was at the minimum in late September she went on shore at Severnaya Zemlja, but as soon as the sea ice again started to form and grow towards the south she started to move across the northern Kara Sea towards the Franz Josef Land Archipelago. In the end of November she reached one of the easternmost islands in the archipelago, Graham Bell Island.
Once on the island it seems like she dug a den, stayed in it for some time and then possibly moved to another den location for some unknown reason. After yet a while we stopped receiving positions, either because the transmissions were blocked by snow and the terrain or simply because the electronics stopped functioning.
 

Svalbard polar bear research: Day 5

From the field, Polar bears, ,

Jon Aars is a researcher with the Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway’s main institution for research, environmental monitoring and mapping of the polar regions. With the support of WWF, Aars studies polar bear populations on the Norwegian island of Svalbard. Read all of  his field notes from a Spring 2013 research expedition, and follow the bears on our Polar Bear Tracker.
fig 9 (Medium)
29 April – We left KV Svalbard a week ago, and have not been out flying for eight days because of bad weather. That is how it works in the Arctic, low pressure systems can bring bad weather for periods of days, and helicopter flying is risky if conditions are not good. With white snow, and moderate sun light, it is hard to see the contrasts on the snow and easy to crash a helicopter flying close to the ground. Darting bears, we fly on only a few meters altitude.
But today, when the weather suddenly improved, we flew to Storfjorden, between the largest islands in Svalbard. This is core polar bear habitat, and we were efficient working from early morning to late night. All together we handled 11 bears, a number we rarely reach in one day of work. It feels good to get that much done after a long period without being able to work, particularly as tomorrow will be our last field day this spring.
Among the bears we captured were two old females on 21 and 24 years of age, the former with a cub of the year and the latter with a yearling. Females this old more often have one cub than two, age having taken its toll. We also captured two different two-year-old bears. They will just have departed from their mothers and will have a challenging time ahead, when they have to learn to hunt on their own. One of them had managed to kill a ringed seal pup, that is at least a good breakfast.

Svalbard polar bear research: Day 4

From the field, Polar bears, ,

Jon Aars is a researcher with the Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway’s main institution for research, environmental monitoring and mapping of the polar regions. With the support of WWF, Aars studies polar bear populations on the Norwegian island of Svalbard. Read all of  his field notes from a Spring 2013 research expedition, and follow the bears on our Polar Bear Tracker.
N26135 MA (Medium)
14 April – After some days in southern Svalbard, the weather improved in more northern areas, and we sailed up north of Spitsbergen, at a latitude of about 80°. After lunch the weather was fine for flying, and we found an adult female in Woodfjorden, north-west Spitsbergen. Few polar bears survive long after they pass their early twenties, but this lady was marked in Woodfjorden already in 1994, as an adult with two small cubs, then estimated to be 7 years old. So at a likely age of 26 years, she will be one of the oldest bears around in Svalbard. She got a collar on, and hopefully she will still be able to hunt seals for a while, at least her condition seemed good.
We handled another two adult females, one together with a yearling and another with two small cubs. This is an area where a few females come out from maternity dens every spring, and most bears we encounter here are very local. Genetics have shown that daughters comes back to the fjords in this area and goes into den in the same area where they were born. Some may walk far into the pack ice north and northeast from there in summer, but will return before autumn. Other bears use the local area year around.

Svalbard polar bear research: Day 3

From the field, Polar bears, ,

Jon Aars is a researcher with the Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway’s main institution for research, environmental monitoring and mapping of the polar regions. With the support of WWF, Aars studies polar bear populations on the Norwegian island of Svalbard. Read all of  his field notes from a Spring 2013 research expedition, and follow the bears on our Polar Bear Tracker.
fig 6 (Medium)
10th April – Today we had a good day in field, with six bears handled. We flew quite far, to Edgeøya at the south-eastern part of Svalbard. Hunters who shot bears for hides many decades ago frequently stayed here over the winter, as many bears pass through the area.
In the morning we found fresh tracks from a female with two cubs, but lost them when the snow got so hard the prints were not longer visible. We started to get a bit low on fuel, but fortunately had a depot on the island where we could refuel and thus continue the search on the east side of the island.
In front of one of the big glaciers we again encountered tracks, this time from a pair of mating bears. April is mating season. Tracks from bears mating are quite distinctive, frequently with parallel tracks with a lot of sharp turns and no particular direction. We found the bears after some effort, and darted them. She was a recapture, marked last year, about six years old.
Later we found a polar bear maternity den, occupied by a visiting adult male, and likely already departed by the family. He also turned out to be a known bear, marked in 2008, now close to 15 years old. We then searched for a female with two small cubs out in some very structured sea ice, making it quite challenging to follow the tracks. But finally we found them, a young female with her first litter, two small cubs about weighing about 8 kilos. Back on the boat we finally got a deserved meal after a long day. When it’s below -20°C and windy all day, then a warm meal is always good to warm up.