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WWF Polar Bear Expedition Diary

Margaret Williams, leader for WWF's Bering Sea & Kamchatka ecoregion, traveled to Chukotka, the northeastern most corner of Siberia on an expedition in April 2007. With several Russian and American colleagues, Margaret and her team traveled over 700 miles across the roadless, snow-covered Chukotka Peninsula to reach the small village of Vankarem, north of the Arctic Circle on the Chukchi Sea. The expedition is part of an ambitious effort to protect and study polar bears and address an increasing problem caused by climate change -- conflict between polar bears and humans.

Join Margaret on her journey across the vast and frozen tundra, and learn more about WWF's work in the Bering Sea & Kamchatka ecoregion.

Part 5: On the ice
Despite the cold wind, Vladilen and Sergey announce we will be going out onto the ice. They want to show us what the ice is like, how it moves and shifts, and how essential it is to wildlife and people alike

The temperature is up to 15 degrees and the sun is shining - a perfect day to be outside. Three snowmobiles, each towing a sled, pull up in front. The snowmobiles look like museum pieces; they are old, rickety, and have clearly traveled many miles. But acquiring new machines would be too costly, so these 30-year-old snowmobiles are well-taken care of and constantly repaired. Once we are all bundled into our polar gear, we pile onto the sleds, fire up the machines, and drop onto the ice.

A few miles out, we stop at a lunka - a breathing hole carved by the ringed seals' teeth and their tails. The seals populate these waters and are a critical food source for polar bears. In fact, they feed not only the polar bear but local people. Hunters harvest the seals by placing a simple trap into the hole, a net attached to a collapsible wooden frame that slides into the 12-inch wide breathing hole and expands beneath the ice. Vankarem hunters use traditional hunting techniques to catch seals rather than rifles which often can cause more damage to herds of animals.

The Arctic ice pack is an amazing ecosystem. It's not just a static block that freezes up for six months in the winter. In fact, the ice is constantly changing and shifting -- sometimes opening up to reveal open water. The ocean dynamics beneath it create a whole new terrain - an ice scape, one might call it.

The Arctic ice is central to the life history of many wildlife species. Walrus give birth to their calves on the ice, and use the ice edge as a platform from which to dive and feed in the cold, nutrient-rich waters. Polar bears breed, travel and hunt ice seals, which build their maternity "lairs" on the ice. The ice also harbors microscopic plankton; thus the extent of the ice and timing of the spring melt play a great role in releasing these tiny building blocks of the one of the richest food chains in the world.

I t's thrilling to be on the ice, learning about it from the people who live with and on it all of their lives. Of course the ice is also the most important habitat for the polar bear. All year long I've been reading the latest scientific reports and looking at satellite images from scientists, describing the climate-related changes in ice cover. But the issue becomes more real and urgent as I stand on the ice and hear stories from our native colleagues who are experiencing climate change firsthand. Vlad and Sergey explain that the ice edge now recedes earlier in the spring and is forming, on average, three weeks later in the autumn, thereby shortening the season of ice for wildlife and people whose livelihoods and cultures are so closely linked with this ecosystem. WWF is addressing the loss of the ice through our global policy efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, while working to prevent other threats to ice ecosystems such as shipping and offshore oil and gas development in the Arctic region.

posted by World Wildlife Fund # 9:19 AM