Polar bears and glaucous gulls threatened by pollution

This video is called Polar Bear Moms and Cubs.

Polar bears and glaucous gulls most at risk from pollution

29/08/2010 13:16:03

An alphabet soup of contaminants leaves some species fighting for survival

Animals in the Arctic are exposed to an alphabet soup of pollutants and contaminates, but according to the latest research, that leaves some species far more vulnerable than others.

Polar bears in East Greenland and Svalbard and Glaucous gulls in Svalbard were particularly at risk, according to the new report, co-authored by a researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

‘At risk’ list

While researchers found it difficult to unearth strong evidence that contaminants such as PCBs and DDT were adversely affecting animals throughout the region, other factors such as the impact of climate change, disease and the invasion of new species will affect the overall exposure that each animal has to pollutants. Climate change, in particular, will affect sea ice distribution and temperatures. This will in turn cause food web changes and changes in nutrition, which led the researchers to list animals at the highest risk from contaminant exposure.

The Arctic wildlife and fish considered to be most at risk are: polar bears in East Greenland, Svalbard and Hudson Bay, killer whales in Alaska and northern Norway, several species of gulls and other seabirds from the Svalbard area, northern Norway, East Greenland, the Kara Sea, and the Canadian central high Arctic, ringed seals from East Greenland and a few populations of Arctic char and Greenland shark.

This is a glaucous gull video.

September 2010: A new report offers a dramatic look at Arctic species being pushed toward extinction by rapid climate change. Studying 17 Arctic animals from Arctic foxes to whales to plankton, Extinction: It’s Not Just for Polar Bears documents their struggle to survive the effects of climate change and ocean acidification. It was produced by the Center for Biological Diversity and Care for the Wild International: here.

As the Arctic warms, a new cache of resources, snow goose eggs, may help sustain the polar bear population for the foreseeable future. In a newly released study published in an early online edition of Oikos, scientists affiliated with the Museum show that even large numbers of hungry bears repeatedly raiding nests over a number of years would have a difficult time eliminating all of the geese because of a mismatch in the timing of bear arrival on shore and goose egg incubation: here.

US polar bears mark their territory: here.

The Largest Animals and Plants in the World: here.

Climate Change Linked to Social Collapses in Greenland Since 800 B.C.: here.