The Bears Of Summer | Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists

Organization, Organization, Organization

By John Whiteman · September 27, 2009 ·

BARROW, ALASKA-- It is 1am mountain time, which my body still seems to be on, but about 11pm here in Barrow. I arrived...

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Summer Days Are Over

By John Whiteman · September 24, 2009 ·

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LARAMIE, WYOMING-- Shortly after my last posting, I received a phone call on a Tuesday evening from my collaborators who are based in Anchorage, Alaska. One of the bears which we sampled last May had been active near the town of Kaktovik, on the Arctic coast...

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Luck – and Snow – in the Air

By John Whiteman · August 18, 2009 ·

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LARAMIE, WYOMING-- After several days of poor weather made flying impossible, we finally had a morning with fair visibility and light winds, allowing us to fly for polar bear captures...

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Hot Days in the Arctic

By John Whiteman · August 7, 2009 ·

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OLIKTOK POINT, ALASKA-- Last week I made the trip back up to the Arctic coast. Along with two other students from the University of Wyoming who are helping with captures and sample processing, I flew from Denver to Anchorage on Thursday night, then onto Deadhorse...

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The Melting Arctic Ice

By John Whiteman · July 7, 2009 ·

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LARAMIE, WYOMING-- While I am spending the summer back at the University of Wyoming, the Arctic summer is in full swing. Sea ice breakup has accelerated, and Arctic ice extent declined rapidly throughout June...

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Returning Home

By John Whiteman · May 26, 2009 ·

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LARAMIE, WYOMING-- During last week, the weather steadily turned from cold and overcast to warm and sunny. On the first day of good conditions we launched in the morning and captured a bear shortly thereafter...

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How Fat Is a Polar Bear?

By John Whiteman · May 15, 2009 ·

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DEADHORSE, ALASKA-- In the last dispatch, I wrote of polar bears getting by without food. In that situation – no food – the bears must be using body stores of fat for energy. Some bears can carry almost 50% of their body mass as fat...

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Getting By Without Food

By John Whiteman · May 8, 2009 ·

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DEADHORSE, ALASKA-- Polar bears specialize in hunting seals and seals provide most, if not all, of the polar bear diet. During summer, some bears...

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Springtime in the Arctic

By John Whiteman · May 1, 2009 ·

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DEADHORSE, ALASKA-- Spring has arrived in this part of the Arctic. In the last ten days, temperatures have risen from -20 to +45 Fahrenheit –…

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To Capture a Polar Bear

By John Whiteman · April 24, 2009 ·

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DEADHORSE, ALASKA-- Currently, the best scientific estimate of the worldwide population of polar bears is about 20,000 to 25,000 animals. This population – which is “circumpolar” and stretches all the way around the Arctic – is...

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The Bears of Summer Dispatches