Bears we are currently tracking

Svalbard and the Barents Sea

These are the bears that we are currently tracking on the Svalbard Archipeligo and the Barents Sea. They were all tagged by researchers Magnus Andersen and Jon Aars from the Norwegian Polar Institute.

N23731

N23731 has been captured several times during the course of our research program, and always in the same area, namely in Hornsund, a fjord in the southern part of Spitsbergen. The first time she was captured and tagged she had a female cub with her, N23732, and this year we captured her on the same day as her mother, and she had her own cubs with her.

During the summer N23731 has moved over to the east coast of Spitsbergen, a relatively short journey. Her last movements show that she has returned to the place that she must regard as home, namely Hornsund in the southern part of Svalbard. This is where she has been seen many times during the course of the years, and this is probably where she was born.

The inner part of Hornsund, Brepollen, is a bay surrounded by glacier fronts, and the bay is well protected from the ocean on the outside by a narrow peninsula. As a result the sea on the inside freezes up quite early in the season, and therefore could be a good place to start the hunting season for the bears.

N23639

Females with cubs often seem to be playing safe with regard to their movements relative to when they are alone. So, N23639 knows that sea ice will form again, and food will be more easily available soon, and the only thing she has to do is to stay put and wait.

The alternative would have been to go out on a difficult and dangerous journey, for the cubs, and still not knowing if she would get to a better place. So, she decides to stay and wait.

N26002

In sharp contrast to the other bears we have on the Polar Bear Tracker, N26002 has made some quite spectacular movements out into the open ocean, the Barents sea. She has stayed with the drifting pack ice all summer, and has throughout the tracking period spent her time right out on the edge of the sea ice.

It is interesting to see how she manages to stay this close to the edge, knowing that the conditions are difficult with sea ice that is drifting with ocean currents and wind, it is melting and cracking and always moving under her feet.

At the moment she is about 100 km east of Kong Karls Land in Svalbard, and out on a ice peninsula pointing southwards. The sea ice cover is open to very open, according to the ice maps. The last positions we have received indicate that she is on her way north, and that seems to be a good idea at the moment, because if that peninsula she is on breaks off, she might be in trouble.

We know, however, from research, that polar bears have a fantastic ability to “read” the ice and the currents, and that they make the right decisions. This is, after all, their natural habitat.

N7839

The situation for N7839 is quite similar as for N23639, in that she too probably has had to stay on land for some time now. Earlier this summer there was quite a bit of sea ice in the Hinlopen Strait, but now there is not much left.

N7839 is in the same area as she was a month ago and has only moved locally in the Bjørnsundet and Wilhelmøya area. The cubs that N7839 has are one year older that those N23639 has, and the older cubs are bigger and stronger and may cope better with the low access to food than the smaller cubs.

We know that survival is better for yearling cubs compared to cubs of the year. Females with cubs often seem to be playing safe with regard to their movements relative to when they are alone. So,N7839, like N23639, knows that sea ice will form again, and food will be more easily available soon, and the only thing she has to do is to stay put and wait.

20534

This bear was first captured as a yearling and with her mother on the active sea ice near Prudhoe Bay on 23 March 2001. She was not observed again until her capture in this same region, with her 2 new cubs, on 16 April 2008.  As a yearling she weighed 53 kg and had a total body length of 148 cm. As an adult, and immediately following a 5-month fast, her weight was 134 kg.  Her total body length was 218 cm.

20955

The bear known as 20955 was first captured on the sea ice near the border of Alaska and Canada (70.1435, -142.8587) with her 1 new cub on 12 May 2008. Her weight was 177 kg and her total body length was 211 cm.

32232

This bear, identified as bear number 32232, was first captured as a yearling with her mother by the Canadian Wildlife Service on the sea ice near the Mackenzie River Delta on 21 April 2003. She was recaptured as an adult by the University of Alberta on sea ice in the eastern Beaufort Sea on 23 April 2008.

X32682

No further biographical information is currently available for bear X32682.

X32687

No further biographical information is currently available for bear X32687.

X32690

No further biographical information is currently available for bear X32690.

Nerriungnerk (Inuit language meaning 'hope', X12208)

Nerriungnerk was first captured as an 8-month-old cub on August 30, 1994, in the inland maternity denning area in north-eastern Manitoba. She was with her mother and twin sister along the edge of a clump of spruce trees where the family had been feeding on blueberries.

Four years later, on September 13,1998, Nerriungnerk was captured alone in a shallow pit dug in the tundra in the maternity denning area. At 4 years of age and only weighing approximately 135 kg, she would have been not pregnant.

She was captured in September 2002 accompanied by twin female cubs-of-the-year. In September 2004, she was captured again, accompanied by one of these same cubs, which was now 2 years and 9 months old. The fate of her other cub is unknown. It is unusual for polar bears in the Western Hudson Bay sub-population to have kept a cub for this length of time. Typically, Nerriungnerk should have weaned her cubs either in the spring/summer of 2001 or 2002.

Our last handling of Nerriungnerk was on September 13, 2009, when she was accompanied by a single 9-month-old female cub. Both bears were in poorer shape for this time of the year relative to most family groups handled; Nerriungnerk weighed 157 kg and her cub, X33308, weighed only 24 kg. A satellite collar was fitted and deployed at this time.

X12383

X12383 was first captured on September 5, 1995, as a 4-year-old subadult in the inland maternity denning area. Although some 4-year-old bears may be pregnant and produce their first litters when 5 years of age, X12383 weighed 165 kg and would not likely have been pregnant.

Two years later to the day, X12383 was captured on September 5,1997, again in the inland maternity denning area. She was 6 years old and weighed an estimated 218 kg. She was likely pregnant although we could not confirm this because we did not encounter her again until 12 years later.

Coincidentally, our last handling of X12383 also occurred on September 5, 2009, when she was 18 years of age. She was caught with twin 21-month-old cubs (male and female) on the eastern edge of the inland maternity denning area, not far from the coast of Hudson Bay. All 3 bears were in good shape for being ashore at that time of the year. X12383 weighed 230 kg, her female cub X33042 weighed 112 kg, and her male cub X33043 weighed 134 kg. It was during this capture that a satellite collar was fitted and deployed.

Ursa (X17097)

On September 9, 2000, Ursa was captured near the edge of a small pond in the inland maternity denning area. She was 3 years old and not pregnant at the time.

Researchers next captured Ursa on September 15, 2009, with twin 9-month-old female cubs. The family was in the denning area along the bank of a small lake. All members of this family group were in good shape for this time of the year; Ursa weighed 236 kg, cub X33320 weighed 59 kg, and cub X33321 weighed 49 kg. It was during this most recent capture that a satellite collar was fitted and deployed.