scholarly journals Polar Bear Distribution and Abundance on the Southwestern Hudson Bay Coast During Open Water Season, in Relation to Population Trends and Annual Ice Patterns

ARCTIC ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Stirling ◽  
N.J. Lunn ◽  
John Iacozza ◽  
Campbell Elliott ◽  
Martyn Obbard
Keyword(s):  
Polar Bear ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Population Trends ◽  
Hudson Bay

scholarly journals The Polar Bear and its Protection

Oryx ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 233-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Loughrey
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
Time Of Year ◽  
Ice Floes

The polar bear, Thalarctos maritimus, (Phipps) enjoys such colloquial names as: “ice-bear,” “sea-bear,” “ice-tiger” and “ice-king.” In view of its large size and its supremacy over the other beasts of the ice-floes it well deserves these epithets. Primarily the polar bear is an animal of the broken arctic pack ice and is found in greatest numbers along the southern edge of the pack. It avoids large expanses of open water or frozen sea ice. The movements of the pack ice to a large degree determine its distribution and movements. Polar bears are carried southward with the pack ice in the spring and summer. In August and September when the ice begins to break up they generally come ashore and make their way north. At this time of year they may be found in considerable numbers along certain coasts where the sea ice has been brought by the winds, tides and currents. An Eskimo from Southampton Island, in northern Hudson Bay, informed me that in August, 1948, he and a companion counted over 180 of these bears along the east coast of that island.

Distribution and abundance of ringed (Phoca hispida) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus) in western Hudson Bay

1997 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 914-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
N J Lunn ◽  
I Stirling ◽  
S N Nowicki
Keyword(s):  
Polar Bear ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Phoca Hispida ◽  
Current Estimate ◽  
Ringed Seals ◽  
Erignathus Barbatus ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Western Hudson Bay ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Bearded Seals

We flew a medium-altitude, systematic, strip-transect survey for ringed (Phoca hispida) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus) over western Hudson Bay in early June 1994 and 1995. The mean density (per square kilometre) of ringed seals hauled out on the ice was four times higher in 1995 (1.690) than in 1994 (0.380). The 1994 survey appeared to underestimate seal abundance because it was flown too late. Ringed seals preferred high ice cover habitat (6 + /8 ice) and, within this habitat, favoured cracking ice and large floes. We found no consistent effect of either wind or cloud cover on habitat preference. We estimated a total of 1980 bearded seals and 140<|>880 ringed seals hauled out on the sea ice in June 1995. A recent review of the relationship between ringed seal and polar bear (Ursus maritimus) populations suggests that a visible population of this size should support a population of up to 1300 polar bears, which is in general agreement with the current estimate of 1250-1300 bears in western Hudson Bay.

Eddy covariance flux measurements of momentum, heat and carbon dioxide in Hudson Bay at the onset of sea ice melt 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Sims ◽  
Brian Butterworth ◽  
Tim Papakyriakou ◽  
Mohamed Ahmed ◽  
Brent Else
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Open Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Gas Transfer ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Ice Fraction

&lt;p&gt;Remoteness and tough conditions have made the Arctic Ocean historically difficult to access; until recently this has resulted in an undersampling of trace gas and gas exchange measurements. The seasonal cycle of sea ice completely transforms the air sea interface and the dynamics of gas exchange. To make estimates of gas exchange in the presence of sea ice, sea ice fraction is frequently used to scale open water gas transfer parametrisations. It remains unclear whether this scaling is appropriate for all sea ice regions. Ship based eddy covariance measurements were made in Hudson Bay during the summer of 2018 from the icebreaker CCGS Amundsen. We will present fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;), heat and momentum and will show how they change around the Hudson Bay polynya under varying sea ice conditions. We will explore how these fluxes change with wind speed and sea ice fraction. As freshwater stratification was encountered during the cruise, we will compare our measurements with other recent eddy covariance flux measurements made from icebreakers and also will compare our turbulent CO&lt;sub&gt;2&amp;#160;&lt;/sub&gt;fluxes with bulk fluxes calculated using underway and surface bottle pCO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;&amp;#160;data.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Excavation of an Arctic Fox, Alopex lagopus, den by a Polar Bear, Ursus maritimus

2004 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 602
Author(s):  
Evan S. Richardson ◽  
Ryan K. Brook
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Ursus Maritimus ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Arctic Fox ◽  
Alopex Lagopus ◽  
N 93

We observed a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) excavating an Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus) den on 24 June 1998, 3 km inland from the Hudson Bay coast (58°40'N, 93°12'W), near Cape Churchill in Wapusk National Park, Manitoba. To our knowledge this is the first observed excavation of an Arctic Fox den by a Polar Bear.

scholarly journals Assessing spatial discreteness of Hudson Bay polar bear populations using telemetry and genetics

Ecosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e02364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Viengkone ◽  
Andrew E. Derocher ◽  
Evan S. Richardson ◽  
Martyn E. Obbard ◽  
Markus G. Dyck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polar Bear ◽  
Hudson Bay

Bounding the Southern Hudson Bay polar bear subpopulation

Ursus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martyn E. Obbard ◽  
Kevin R. Middel
Keyword(s):  
Polar Bear ◽  
Hudson Bay

Unusual Predation Attempts of Polar Bears on Ringed Seals in the Southern Beaufort Sea: Possible Significance of Changing Spring Ice Conditions

ARCTIC ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Stirling ◽  
Evan Richardson ◽  
Gregory W. Thiemann ◽  
Andrew E. Derocher
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Polar Bears ◽  
Ringed Seals ◽  
Decadal Scale ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
Ice Conditions

In April and May 2003 through 2006, unusually rough and rafted sea ice extended for several tens of kilometres offshore in the southeastern Beaufort Sea from about Atkinson Point to the Alaska border. Hunting success of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) seeking seals was low despite extensive searching for prey. It is unknown whether seals were less abundant in comparison to other years or less accessible because they maintained breathing holes below rafted ice rather than snowdrifts, or whether some other factor was involved. However, we found 13 sites where polar bears had clawed holes through rafted ice in attempts to capture ringed seals (Phoca hispida) in 2005 through 2006 and another site during an additional research project in 2007. Ice thickness at the 12 sites that we measured averaged 41 cm. These observations, along with cannibalized and starved polar bears found on the sea ice in the same general area in the springs of 2004 through 2006, suggest that during those years, polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea were nutritionally stressed. Searches made farther north during the same period and using the same methods produced no similar observations near Banks Island or in Amundsen Gulf. A possible underlying ecological explanation is a decadal-scale downturn in seal populations. But a more likely explanation is major changes in the sea-ice and marine environment resulting from record amounts and duration of open water in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, possibly influenced by climate warming. Because the underlying causes of observed changes in polar bear body condition and foraging behaviour are unknown, further study is warranted.

Re-estimating the Size of the Polar Bear Population in Western Hudson Bay

ARCTIC ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
N.J. Lunn ◽  
I. Stirling ◽  
D. Andriashek ◽  
G.B. Kolenosky
Keyword(s):  
Polar Bear ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Western Hudson Bay

scholarly journals Polar bear foraging behavior during the ice-free period in western Hudson Bay : observations, origins, and potential significance

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda J. Gormezano ◽  
Andrew Barnas ◽  
Susan N. Ellis-Felege ◽  
David T. Iles ◽  
Robert F. Rockwell
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Polar Bear ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Potential Significance ◽  
Western Hudson Bay
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