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Pages and Posts Tagged ‘ecology’


Science Aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA-- This video clip is from aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer (NBP) in March/April 2009 on the Southern Ocean. It shows how we collect water with the CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) Rosette, and a few experiments... {Read More »}



How Fat Is a Polar Bear?

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... {Read More »}



Getting By Without Food

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



The End of Our Cruise

PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE-- Late last night we arrived at Punta Arenas, Chile. This marks the end of our Iceberg 3 cruise. We have finished analyzing the samples, re-calibrating instruments and we are now ready to start packing... {Read More »}



To Capture a Polar Bear

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... {Read More »}



Experiments with Phytoplankton Growing Close to Icebergs

ABOARD THE RVIB N. B. PALMER, ON THE SOUTHERN OCEAN– We are experimenting with iron additions to phytoplankton populations to see possible effects of icebergs as a source of iron... {Read More »}



Primary Productivity at an Iceberg Site

ABOARD THE RVIB N. B. PALMER, ON THE SOUTHERN OCEAN– Not only do we want to know about what type of phytoplankton grow close to icebergs but we also want to know how well they grow... {Read More »}



The Iceberg Alley

ABOARD THE RVIB N. B. PALMER, ON THE SOUTHERN OCEAN– Within 40 nautical miles southeast of C18A iceberg, we found an area known as the Iceberg Alley: a large concentration of icebergs in western Weddell Sea, moving in a north-northeast direction following the clockwise circulation around the Weddell Sea gyre. Hundreds of icebergs... {Read More »}



The Bears of Summer

Summer is a critical time for polar bears and climate change is lengthening Arctic summers. {Read More »}



Starting at the End of the Road

DEADHORSE, ALASKA-- When I began thinking about logistics for this project, one of the first questions I had was “How do you get to the Arctic?” I had done field work in wildnerness areas before, but nothing as remote as northern Alaska. For our first season on capturing polar bears... {Read More »}