Seasonal movements of adult female polar bears in the Bering and Chukchi seas

Bears: Their Biology and Management
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Abstract

Ten adult female polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were fitted with satellite telemetry collars during March 1986 in the Kotzebue Sound area of the Chukchi Sea. During March-April 1987, 2 of these bears were refitted with satellite telemetry collars and an additional 10 adult females were collared in the northern Bering and eastern Chukchi seas. Data for 1,560 point locations recorded through May 1988 indicated that female polar bears in the Bering and Chukchi seas were resident in western Alaskan waters from November through March, then moved northward with the receding pack ice during April and May. They remained in the northern and northwestern Chukchi Sea during June through September, often adjacent to the Soviet coastline. Satellite telemetry data indicated that 4 females marked in Alaskan waters of the Chukchi Sea apparently denned in the vicinity of Wrangel Island during winter 1987/1988. Denning in American territory of bears marked in the Chukchi and Bering seas has not been documented using satellite telemetry data. Some polar bears moved from the Chukchi Sea into the western Beaufort Sea during summer and fall, then returned to the Chukchi and Bering seas the following winter. Movements of bears from the Chukchi Sea into the central or eastern Beaufort Sea were not documented through spring 1988. These data document that polar bears occuring in the Bering and Chukchi seas are shared internationally between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Seasonal movements of adult female polar bears in the Bering and Chukchi seas
Series title Bears: Their Biology and Management
DOI 10.2307/3872922
Volume 8
Year Published 1990
Language English
Publisher International Association for Bear Research and Management
Contributing office(s) Alaska Science Center
Description 8 p.
Larger Work Type Conference Paper
Larger Work Subtype Conference Paper
Larger Work Title A selection of papers from the eighth international conference on bear research and management
First page 219
Last page 226
Conference Title Eighth International Conference on Bear Research and Management
Conference Location Victoria, BC
Conference Date February 1989
Country Russia, United States
State Alaska
Other Geospatial Bering sea, Chukchi sea
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