Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 09:48
Forums
Polar Bear Response to Sea Ice Loss

Dear Polar Trec

What will u be doing to polar bears?

How many times have u been to the North Pole?

Are the Polar Bears going extinct?

What do you think will happen the rest of the planet with Global Warming?

Fri, 09/25/2009 - 14:00

Cristina Galvan

Hi,You have lots of great questions here!
The research team and I will be going out on the Coast Guard ship to
find a group of bears that have been tagged with GPS collars. When we
get close enough to the bears, then we will travel via helicopter out to
the ice. Once on the ice, we will take samples from the bears to see
how they have changed over the summer. The research team took samples
from the same bears at the beginning of the summer - so we can look at
before and after data on the bears.
Polar bears are not considered to be endangered, however they are a
threatened species under the endangered species act. The main reason is
habitat loss due to Global Warming.
This is my first trip to the North Pole. However, I did travel to
Fairbanks, Alaska in February for training. You can read my journal
entries about what that experience was like.
Thanks for the great questions,
Ms Galvan