Polar bear midwinter lowland habitat in Barents Sea issues warning of more human-bear conflict
Susan Crockford
There is plenty of sea ice in the Bering Sea, Greenland and Labrador, although less than usual in the Barents Sea due to strong winds pushing the ice northward. Whenever there is a little less sea ice than usual, the disaster-stricken people start to attack but this time the words are a little different.
overall
On February 14, 2023, courtesy NSIDC Masie
Pretty typical for this time of year except for the Barents Sea (details below) and St. Lawrence in eastern Canada (where there are no bears).
The Greenland Sea and the Barents Sea
On February 15, 2023, courtesy Norwegian Ice Service
Strong winds – which did not thaw – pushed ice north of Svalbard toward the poles and opened a polynya north of Franz Josef Land, causing a record low for sea ice in the Barents Sea on February 13. :
However, this measure of “most open water” is meaningless for polar bears and other arctic species. ONE polygon anywhere in the Arctic at this time of year is a blessing to wildlife: Open water means a rare feeding area for fish, birds, seals and polar bears (Stirling 1997; Stirling et al. 1981).
New Domination Narrative
Like me note on twitter yesterdaya new story is emerging as the main explanation for what low sea ice means for polar bears, motivate you to expect more polar bear attacks and breakdown problem, do not reduce the quantity. Its not completely new concept (I first noticed it in 2013) but it took a while to really catch on:
Even Andrew Derocher is on the train:
“Icy conditions were bad for polar bears in Svalbard this year. Low ice will make hunting difficult next spring. Time to plan for more human-bear conflicts unless conditions change.” [13 Feb 2023 tweet, my bold]
The flip side of a healthy polar bear population
It seems today’s polar bear experts are forgetting that there is a downside to healthy polar bear populations, as I wrote about a few years ago. When the Inuit are searching, more bears mean more conflict with people.
This is partly because independent young male polar bears (2-5 years old) are less experienced hunters and occupy the bottom of the social hierarchy. Older, larger bears often take away young seals killed in the spring (Stirling 1974: 1196) – potentially leaving the cubs without enough fat to see them until the fall.
Many hungry young males come ashore in search of food as one of the potential consequences of living with a large, healthy polar bear population. Biologist Ian Stirling warned of such problems in 1974:
“Doctor. Stirling feels that a complete cessation of hunting, such as that which exists in Norway, could increase conflict between bears and humans. Dr Reimers replied that careful harvesting of polar bears is probably the right thing to do, but the total ban now in effect is largely a decision of sentiment and politics rather than a biological one. . Last year, four bears were killed in self-defense.” [1974 PBSG meeting “Norway – progress reported by [Thor] Larsen”; Anonymous 1976:11; my daring]
Presenter
Nameless. 1976. Polar Bears: Proceedings of the 5th meeting of the IUCN/SSC Polar Bear Expert Group, December 3-5, 1974, Le Manoir, St. Prex, Switzerland. Gland, Switzerland IUCN.
Stirling, I. 1974. Midsummer observations of wild polar bear behavior (Ursus maritimus). Canadian Journal of Zoology 52: 1191-1198. http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z74-157#.VR2zaOFmwS4
Stirling, I. 1997. Importance of polynyas, ice margins and lead to sea mammals and birds. Maritime Systems Magazine 10:9-21.
Stirling, I, Cleator, H. and Smith, TG 1981. Marine mammals. IN: Polynyas in the Canadian Arctic, Stirling, I. and Cleator, H. (eds), pg. 45-58. Wildlife Canada, Regular Report No. 45. Ottawa.
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