The Longest Polar Bear Swim Recorded

July 27th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals, SCIENCE

This story is both sad and triumphant, National Geographic reports that the longest polar bear swim recorded has topped out at 426 miles.

“We’re pretty sure that these animals didn’t have to do these long swims before, because 687-kilometer stretches of open water didn’t occur very often in the evolutionary history of the polar bear,” said study co-author Steven Amstrup, chief scientist for the conservation group Polar Bears International. Amstrup is also the former project leader of polar bear research for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which led the new study.

Another female bear in the study swam for more than 12 days, but appears to have found places to rest during her journey.

Field Update, Narwhal and Beluga

June 20th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in AK PRODUCTS & SERVICES, Arctic Animals, Photographers

Our team is currently at the floe edge in Arctic Bay through the rest of this month, and have been posting incredible images of the Beluga and Narwhal they’re observing!  Follow us on Facebook for even more photos and updates direct from the source.

Travelling over the sea ice from the floe edge to the AK base camp 10km back from the edge

Previously – Thomas Lennartz writes on the allure of the Arctic and why he keeps going back.

Introducing The Pizzly Bear

May 6th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals, IN THE NEWS, SCIENCE

polar/Brown Bear adult hybrid. Rothschild Museum, Tring, England. Photography by Sarah Hartwell, distributed under GNU Free Documentation License.

Also known as a “grolar bear“, the Pizzly is a rare hybrid of polar and grizzly bears, occasionally found in the wild as well as in captivity.

Slate.com reports that recently scientists were able to confirm a strange bear shot by an Inuvialuit hunter was indeed, a pizzly. This raises a  question as to why these two different species are able to create fertile offspring. Unlike, for example, a horse and a donkey.

Because they have more recent common ancestry. When geographical barriers—such as rising sea levels or retracting ice flo

es—separate populations, they may develop genetic, physiological, or behavioral differences; changes in chromosome structure or number; differently shaped genitalia; or incompatible mating times and rituals—any of which can prevent successful reproduction. Take horses and donkeys, which probably diverged about 2.4 million years ago. Horses have 64 chromosomes, while donkeys have 62, and when they mate, their chromosomes don’t pair up properly, inhibiting meiosis in their offspring. As a result, mules are sterile. Brown bears and polar bears, by contrast, evolved from the same ancestor only about 150,000 years ago—a relatively brief period—and have not developed significant genetic differences.

The prevailing theory holds that polar bears diverged from brown bears at the end of the last ice age (the Pleistocene), when a population followed retreating ice northward. As they adapted to their new arctic home, the separated population lost the brown bear’s hump and developed the polar bear’s characteristic hair (which is actually clear), narrower shoulders, longer neck, smaller head, and partially webbed toes. Despite appearances, polar bears and grizzlies are still genetically quite similar. In fact, there are multiple instances of the two species successfully interbreeding in zoos.

The answer to why we don’t see this kind of interbreeding more frequently lies primarily in geographical separation, along with differences in timing when it comes to mating season. Scientists suspect we may see more cross-breeding, including among marine mammals, as climate change forces groups of animals to re-locate into territories already inhabited by similar species.

Daily Dose Of Adorable Baby Polar Bear

April 12th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals

Comes to us via the Aalborg Zoo in Denmark.

Orca Whales On The Hunt

March 7th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals, IN THE NEWS, SCIENCE

CBC news shared a tourist-shot video of a pod of orca whales hunting a minke whale. Unfortunately, they don’t allow for embedding, but do click through to their site to view the film. This behavior isn’t unusual, and a number of video examples of it can be found online – including this (slightly graphic) one from the Vancouver Aquarium.

Arctic Kingdom founder Graham shared some information on the habits of orca whales -

Orcas come up into the arctic to hunt the arctic whales as well. They are observed every year in communities around Nunavut from Baffin Island to Hudson Bay but it is impossible to know when they will appear or which direction they head as they are transient and can move hundreds of miles every day.

Orcas have a dorsal fin and so must stay away from areas with too much ice cover. Arctic whales (Bowhead, Narwhal, Beluga) have flat backs (no pronounced dorsal fin) and so can rise to breathe through holes under the ice (which an orca cannot do). Arctic whales are therefore protected from Orca during the winter and spring months by the ice cover but vulnerable when the ice disappears in summer and fall. There is some concern that decreasing ice cover may increase the incidence of orca predation on arctic whales.

Do Whales Sleep?

February 21st, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals, IN THE NEWS, SCIENCE

Of course whales must sleep. But what are the logistics of breathing underwater while at rest? Graham Dickson sent this article to me the other day -  I realized it’s such an obvious question, I never thought to ask.

Whales have a respiratory system that allows them to survive beneath the waves for up to and beyond 30 minutes at a time, without the need for oxygen. This is of little aid when sleeping, though.

Humans are special in that they breathe without having to think about it; it is an involuntary process that can be performed unconsciously. Air intake is automatic, even when humans aren’t paying attention or are asleep. Whales and other ocean mammals, such as dolphins, do not have this luxury. Because they are in an undersea environment and surrounded by water, they cannot afford to breathe indiscriminately. They must be conscious breathers and always be aware of their blowhole, which is tricky considering that they must sleep at times.

They sleep either horizontally or vertically, and may also choose to sleep by slowly and semi-consciously swimming close to a fellow whale. Movement while sleeping is common with these animals, and young whales do it to an even greater extent.

The Census of Marine Life: Photo of the Week – Arctic Copepod

February 11th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals, Current Events, IN THE NEWS

The Arctic copepod, Euaugaptilus hyperboreus. Photo from The Census of Marine Life website.

The Census of Marine Life is an amazing project. From their website -

The Census of Marine Life is a broad global initiative that supports research at the frontiers of our oceans: the hottest undersea vents, the deepest and darkest depths, the rapidly changing poles, and the most interesting biological “hotspots.” CoML projects engage more than 2000 scientists and marine professionals from 80 countries in an initial ten-year effort to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine life in the world’s oceans – past, present and future.

National Geographic Video – The Arctic Ocean

January 29th, 2011 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals

Some stunning footage from National Geographic in these two videos. Beluga, seals, polar bears, and the inspiring arctic landscape.

Obama Designates Polar Bear Protection Area

November 29th, 2010 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals, Conservation, Current Events, IN THE NEWS, SCIENCE

This is terrific news! President Obama has set aside 187,000 square miles in Alaska as a “critical habitat” for polar bears. The total area, which includes large areas of sea ice, is about 13,000 square miles, or 8.3 million acres. This action could have long reaching consequences towards limiting future offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. Increasingly, oil companies have been putting pressure on governments to open up arctic areas for drilling, actions heavily contested by conservationists.

Tom Strickland, assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department, as quoted by the Washington Post -

This critical habitat designation enables us to work with federal partners to ensure their actions within its boundaries do not harm polar bear populations,” Strickland said. “We will continue to work toward comprehensive strategies for the long-term survival of this iconic species.”

A number of US Senators have been pushing for this kind of protection for some time, it’s encouraging to see the government taking significant action towards Polar Bear conservation.

Polar Bears in Hudson Bay

Interested in traveling to see the Polar Bears yourself? Learn more about the Arctic Kingdom travel experience with our webinar archive, and read up on our upcoming adventures. You can also check out Polar Bears International for more information on the animals, current conservation efforts, and ways you can directly aid their efforts.

Narwhal Power Assists Climate Research

November 8th, 2010 | By Tristan Crane | Filed in Arctic Animals, Current Events, IN THE NEWS, SCIENCE

In a nice turn about from stories about scientists assisting wildlife, a group of creative researchers are utilizing narwhal to help them gather climate change information. Scientists have tagged 14 narwhals with satellite-linked temperature recorders to monitor ocean temperatures in Baffin Bay. While using marine mammals as mobile instrument bearers is not a new concept, this is the first time narwhal have been enlisted to help out.

Nature.com reports -

Traditionally, researchers take seawater temperatures by hanging devices below a survey ship or a helicopter, or by leaving a team on the pack ice over a season to periodically lower a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) probe into the water below.
But these options are not practical at Baffin Bay in winter, when it is often inaccessible or inhospitable to researchers.

A study on the results of this research has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, co-authored by oceanographer Mike Steele who is with the University of Washington in Seattle. The data gathered has provided a detailed view of the warming of Baffin Bay and will help create more accurate models of future temperatures.

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