Polar bear research in the Beaufort Sea

Current research is designed to determine the status of the polar bear population in the Beaufort Sea and adjacent areas. One goal is to determine how polar bears are distributed relative to each other and habitat features, and to define population boundaries. Another goal is to determine the population size and trend, and assess how present and future management issues may affect thetrend. Specific objectives of the research include the need to:

1. Determine the movements of individuals comprising the polar bear population that uses the Beaufort Sea. Determine hoe movements vary by season and by year, and whether they can be modeled so as to allow meaningful census and mitigation efforts.
2. Improve estimates of size of the Beaufort Sea population relative to the capacity of the environment to sustain it.
3. Determine factors regulating the rate of recruitment of new bears into the population.
4. Determine the distribution of polar bear dens in northern Alaska and whether denning habitats may be a limiting factor on reproductive success.
5. Determine the timing of den entrance and emergence.
6. Determine the relative success rates (thus the reproductive significance) of dens in various locations.

This report summaries the progress towards those objectives that has been made since the last meeting of the PBSG in 1988.