Alaska Polar Bear (2018)
.dataTable td border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;padding-left: 10px;padding-bottom: 5px;.dataTable tr:nth-child(even) background-color: #f2f2f2; Catalogue of Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Maternal Den Locations in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and Nearby Areas, 1910-2018 Data Download [31KB] Metadata AK Science Portal Project Site Date Range: 1910 - 2018This data reports on the approximate locations and methods of discovery of 530 polar bear (Ursus maritimus) maternal dens observed in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas and neighboring areas between 1910 and 2018, and archived partly by the U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, and partly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Mammals Management, in Anchorage, Alaska. Data fields include a unique and permanent USGS identifier for each record, the year when the adult would have been expected to depart the den with young, an index of whether the maternal den was confirmed or probable, coordinates of the den, substrate that each den occurred on, the agency source of each record, method of discovery of each den, method used to determine the position of each den, and estimated position uncertainty. Data were collected through standardized VHF aircraft surveys and satellite radio telemetry, field research activities in polar bear habitat, and anecdotal reports from other government agencies, coastal residents, and industry personnel. The polar bear maternal den records presented here supersede an earlier version of these data (Durner and others, 2010).
Alaska Polar Bear (2018)
Referenced Publication(s):Durner, G. M., S. C. Amstrup, D. C. Douglas, A. S. Fischbach, J. W. Olson, K. D. Rode, and R. R. Wilson. 2020. Catalogue of polar bear (Ursus maritimus) maternal den locations in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and nearby areas, 1910-2018. USGS Data Series 1121. doi:10.3133/ds1121
Atwood, T. C., J. F. Bromaghin, V. P. Patil, G. M. Durner, D. C. Douglas, and K. S. Simac. 2020. Analyses on subpopulation abundance and annual number of maternal dens for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the Southern Beaufort Sea, Alaska. USGS Open-File Report 2020-1087. doi:10.3133/ofr20201087
Olson, J. W., K. D. Rode, D. L. Eggett, T. S. Smith, R. R. Wilson, G. M. Durner, A. S. Fischbach, T. C. Atwood, and D. C. Douglas. 2017. Collar temperature sensor data reveal long-term patterns in southern Beaufort Sea polar bear den distribution on pack ice and land. Marine Ecology Progress Series 564:211-224. doi:10.3354/meps12000
Rode, K. D., J. W. Olson, D. L. Eggett, D. C. Douglas, G. M. Durner, T. C. Atwood, E. V. Regehr, R. R. Wilson, T. S. Smith, and M. St. Martin. 2018. Den phenology and reproductive success of polar bears in a changing climate. Journal of Mammalogy 99(1):16-26. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyx181
And while these folks blame lack of sea ice in the Southern Beaufort for driving the bears away, the author of the piece neglects to explicitly state the obvious alternative explanation (although he alludes to it): that abundant food in the Chukchi Sea in recent years caused by greater primary productivity during the longer ice-free seasons has made ice over Russian waters a more attractive place to live for polar bears (Frey et al. 2021; Rode et al. 2014, 2018).
Aars, J., Marques,T.A, Lone, K., Anderson, M., Wiig, Ø., Fløystad, I.M.B., Hagen, S.B. and Buckland, S.T. 2017. The number and distribution of polar bears in the western Barents Sea. Polar Research 36:1. 1374125. doi:10.1080/17518369.2017.1374125
AC SWG 2018. Chukchi-Alaska polar bear population demographic parameter estimation. Eric Regehr, Scientific Working Group (SWG. Report of the Proceedings of the 10th meeting of the Russian-American Commission on Polar Bears, 27-28 July 2018), pg. 5. Published 30 July 2018. US Fish and Wildlife Service. pdf here.
Amstrup, S.C., Durner, G. M., Stirling, I. and McDonald, T. L. 2005. Allocating harvests among polar bear stocks in the Beaufort Sea. Arctic 58:247-259. Pdf here.
Atwood, T.C., Bromaghin, J.F., Patil, V.P., Durner, G.M., Douglas, D.C., and Simac, K.S., 2020. Analyses on subpopulation abundance and annual number of maternal dens for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the southern Beaufort Sea, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020-1087. pdf here.
Conn, P.B., Chernook, V.I., Moreland, E.E., Trukhanova, I.S., Regehr, E.V., Vasiliev, A.N., Wilson, R.R., Belikov, S.E. and Boveng, P.L. 2021. Aerial survey estimates of polar bears and their tracks in the Chukchi Sea. PLoS ONE 16(5): e0251130. OPEN ACCESS video:
Regehr, E.V., Hostetter, N.J., Wilson, R.R., Rode, K.D., St. Martin, M., Converse, S.J. 2018. Integrated population modeling provides the first empirical estimates of vital rates and abundance for polar bears in the Chukchi Sea. Scientific Reports 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-34824-7 -018-34824-7
Rode, K.D., Regehr, E.V., Douglas, D., Durner, G., Derocher, A.E., Thiemann, G.W., and Budge, S. 2014. Variation in the response of an Arctic top predator experiencing habitat loss: feeding and reproductive ecology of two polar bear populations. Global Change Biology 20(1):76-88.
Rode, K.D., Wilson, R.R., Regehr, E.V., St. Martin, M., Douglas, D.C. & Olson, J. 2015. Increased land use by Chukchi Sea polar bears in relation to changing sea ice conditions. PLoS One 10 e0142213.
Into the light steps a polar bear. The driver revs his engine, and his passenger yips and hollers, standing tall, waving a high-powered flashlight at the bear. The bear huffs, and for a moment looks like it might hold its ground. Instead, it drops to all fours, turns, and runs around the building. The men on the snowmobile follow, still kicking up all the noise they can muster, driving the bear toward the ocean. In the distance, chained dogs start to bark in chorus.
According to the charging document, on Dec. 20, 2018, near the village of Kaktovik, Gordon allegedly left butchered whale meat outside in the front yard of his residence for a substantial period of time, which attracted a polar bear and other animals to his front yard. Gordon then allegedly shot and killed the polar bear because it was trying to eat the improperly stored whale meat; the shooting was not done in self-defense.
Between Dec. 20, 2018, and May 22, 2019, Gordon allegedly left the polar bear carcass in his front yard without salvaging any portion of the polar bear and allowing it to become covered with snow. This caused a snow removal vehicle to move the polar bear carcass and rip off one of its legs. On May 22, 2019, Gordon caused the polar bear carcass to be discarded and burned in the Kaktovik dump without using any of its parts for subsistence purposes.
In 2010 the U.S. and Russia put a limit on the number of polar bears Native hunters were allowed to harvest from the Chukchi Sea population. It was part of an effort to conserve the animals in the face of uncertainty about how they would respond to sea ice loss.
Katya Wassillie is executive director of the Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, or ANCC, the group that represents Alaska Native polar bear hunters. She says that the good health of the Chukchi Sea bears is cause for celebration.
The area also has an abundance of whale traffic, and when carcasses wash up on shore the polar bears can feed on them in summer, when the sea ice melts and a portion of the Chukchi Sea subpopulation waits on land for the ocean to refreeze.
For the first time, the model also considered local and traditional ecological knowledge collected by the North Slope Borough of Alaska from Native hunters and community members who have generations of experience with polar bears.
As part of his current research at the UW, Regehr spends about two months each year working with Russian scientists on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean, where hundreds of Chukchi Sea polar bears spend their summers.
As an adult film director, Tae-joon is called a polar bear because he has a low-talking personality but has a big body and voice when excited. Because of his lustful father, he thinks only of women as a tool to quench her sexual desire. He is currently running a cafe with coffee he learned to soothe the mind and body. He has an uninspiring sex life with the erotic actress Do Do-hee, his sex partner. On the other hand, one day when Yeon-hee, the youngest member of the Alaska directing department, works at Tae-Jun's cafe, Tae-Jun can't stand his sexual desire and violates her...
The Chukchi population study used data collected by sampling about 60 polar bears between 2008 and 2016. Some were fitted with GPS transmitters. The data was used in a model designed to estimate population size for highly mobile large carnivores.
Myomick, 24, and her son, 1-year-old Clyde Ongtowasruk, made it just beyond the front of the Kingikmiut School in Wales, Alaska, just below the Arctic Circle, when a polar bear emerged from the impenetrable snow squall and mauled them Tuesday. It was the first fatal polar bear attack in 30 years in Alaska, the only U.S. state that is home to the animals.
"The polar bear was chasing them and tried to get in as well," said Nedza, who received frantic calls about the attack in Unalakleet, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) away. "Just horrific. ... Something you never think you would ever experience."
Alaska scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey in 2019 found changes in sea ice habitat had coincided with evidence that polar bears' use of land was increasing and that the chances of a polar bear encounter had risen.
The last fatal polar bear attack in Alaska happened in 1990, the Anchorage Daily News reported, and biologists later said the animal had shown signs of starvation. Three years later, a polar bear mauled a mechanic at an Air Force radar station but the 55-year-old victim survived, the newspaper reported. 041b061a72