Polar Bears | Ice Stories: Dispatches From Polar Scientists

The Melting Arctic Ice

By John Whiteman · July 7, 2009 ·

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... {Read More »}

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... {Read More »}

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... {Read More »}

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... {Read More »}

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 – unusually warm for the spring, or summer for that matter.… {Read More »}

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... {Read More »}

On the Edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

By John Whiteman · April 23, 2009 ·

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KAKTOVIK, ALASKA-- The size of polar bears always amazes me. This bear had paws that were as wide as my hand is long, and it was not even a large male. The largest males can weigh over 1500 lbs, twice as much as this bear... {Read More »}

Racing to Prepare

By John Whiteman · April 17, 2009 ·

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DEADHORSE, ALASKA-- Deadhorse is surprisingly accessible, but it is definitely in a wildly remote place; yesterday I woke to sunny skies and a temperature of -17 degrees (Fahrenheit). Spring warmth is coming – three weeks ago it was 30 below – but it is still winter here in the Arctic... {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

By John Whiteman · April 16, 2009 ·

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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 »}

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