{"id":257313,"date":"2023-05-13T20:32:37","date_gmt":"2023-05-13T18:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=257313"},"modified":"2023-05-13T20:32:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T18:32:46","slug":"polar-bears-in-w-hudson-bay-are-in-good-shape-says-researcher-so-are-numbers-really-falling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=257313","title":{"rendered":"Polar bears in W. Hudson Bay are in good shape, says researcher. So are numbers really falling?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From polarbearscience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Canada, Manitoba, Churchill, Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) swimming by melting sea ice in Hudson Bay on summer evening<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve got ourselves another round of field data\u2013i.e., facts\u2013not fitting the\u00a0polar-bears-are-starving-to-death<\/a>\u00a0narrative. According to polar bear specialist Andrew Derocher, Western Hudson Bay polar bears his team saw in April while installing collars and ear tags were in\u00a0good shape<\/a>\u00a0this year, as he said they were\u00a0last year<\/a>. There was no spring field work in 2021 and 2020 but in 2019, he also said the bears he saw were in good condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Derocher 4 May 2023<\/a>, reporting on Western Hudson Bay field work<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years in a row of bears in good condition in spring\u2013with no mention of starving bears\u2013does not fit the picture of a population supposedly declining due to starvation. The most recent population count for WH, which garnered\u00a0wide-spread media attention<\/a>\u00a0just before Christmas last year, claims that a\u00a027% decline in numbers<\/a>\u00a0took place between 2017 and the fall of 2021 even though sea ice conditions had been good during those five years as well. It\u2019s a perplexing situation. Makes me really wonder what that survey report actually says, but it still hasn\u2019t been released, five months after the results made news around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Screenshot from\u00a0<\/span>8 May 2023 tweet<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring WH bear reports<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Derocher and his team of students from University of Alberta have been monitoring WH polar bears for years. They go out every spring, in April, to tag and collar bears. Derocher communicates almost exclusively via Twitter, so there is seldom anything more than brief snippets of information provided. Links below to his original tweets:Spring 2023 \u2013 bears reported in\u00a0good condition<\/a>Spring 2022 \u2013 bears reported in\u00a0good condition<\/a>Spring 2021 \u2013 no field work but a population survey was done that fallSpring 2020 \u2013 no field work but a number of bears left the ice as late as the 1980s, in\u00a0mid-to-late Augus<\/a>tSpring 2019 \u2013 bears reported in\u00a0good condition<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0left the ice in August<\/a>, as late as 1980s<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hudson Bay sea ice conditions<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The patch of thick sea ice (>1m, dark green) over the central portion of the bay\u00a0isn\u2019t as extensive as it often is<\/a>\u00a0in early May, which may mean breakup will come earlier than it has for the last few years:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Compare above to 2020 at 4 May:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve got ourselves another round of field data\u2013i.e., facts\u2013not fitting the\u00a0polar-bears-are-starving-to-death\u00a0narrative. According to polar bear specialist Andrew Derocher, Western Hudson Bay polar bears his team saw in April while installing collars and ear tags were in\u00a0good shape\u00a0this year, as he said they were\u00a0last year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":257325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819537,691819536],"class_list":["post-257313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-plar-bears","tag-w-hudson-bay","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-14Wd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":266535,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=266535","url_meta":{"origin":257313,"position":0},"title":"Natural flexibility explains W Hudson Bay polar bear movements at breakup better than climate change","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hudson Bay in early July this year is a mosaic of more-than-average and less-than-average sea ice coverage but apparently, only the less-than-average ice areas constitute the \u201cearly breakup\u201d caused by climate change, and only \u201cdeniers\u201d would say otherwise.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-279.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-279.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-279.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-279.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-279.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":267566,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=267566","url_meta":{"origin":257313,"position":1},"title":"Hudson Bay sea ice loss has not accelerated since 2014: in fact, summer ice cover has improved","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/15\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This is only the third year since 2014 that the bay has had less than usual amounts of ice, which means most years since then have had normal or nearly normal ice coverage, similar to the 1980s. Hardly the\u00a0ever-worsening catastrophe\u00a0of sea ice loss story being spun in the media for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Hudson Bay\"","block_context":{"text":"Hudson Bay","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=hudson-bay"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Polar-bears-10.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Polar-bears-10.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Polar-bears-10.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Polar-bears-10.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0Polar-bears-10.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":265498,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=265498","url_meta":{"origin":257313,"position":2},"title":"Early sea ice breakup in W Hudson Bay caused by \u201crecord breaking\u201d warmth in 2023 but not 2015?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"According to\u00a0Polar Bears International, the \u201c3rd-earliest\u201d breakup date for Western Hudson Bay was caused by a \u201crecord breaking\u201d heat wave in May. Western Hudson Bay sea ice hit the 30% coverage threshold used by PBI to define \u201cbreakup\u201d on 17 June this year, prompting speculation about potential future impacts on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Bears Onshore\"","block_context":{"text":"Bears Onshore","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bears-onshore"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0OIGP-3.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0OIGP-3.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0OIGP-3.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/0OIGP-3.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":252219,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=252219","url_meta":{"origin":257313,"position":3},"title":"Winter sea ice habitat for polar bears still abundant enough to sustain a thriving species","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center\u00a0report\u00a0(5 April 2023), the average ice extent for March was 14.44 mkm2, considered the \u201cwinter\u201dvalue (as compared to \u201csummer\u201d which is the average for September).","rel":"","context":"In \"Greenland\"","block_context":{"text":"Greenland","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=greenland"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0polar-bears-147.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0polar-bears-147.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0polar-bears-147.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0polar-bears-147.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/0polar-bears-147.jpeg?fit=1200%2C762&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":276419,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=276419","url_meta":{"origin":257313,"position":4},"title":"W. Hudson Bay polar bear numbers declined 27% in 2021 but not because of missing ice: secret paper","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/30\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"As will become apparent tomorrow, Western Hudson Bay polar bear numbers apparently declined 27% between 2017 and 2021 but not because of sea ice loss.","rel":"","context":"In \"polar bear\"","block_context":{"text":"polar bear","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=polar-bear"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00Steven-C-Amstrup-000025-1536x1046-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00Steven-C-Amstrup-000025-1536x1046-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00Steven-C-Amstrup-000025-1536x1046-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00Steven-C-Amstrup-000025-1536x1046-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/00Steven-C-Amstrup-000025-1536x1046-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":290645,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=290645","url_meta":{"origin":257313,"position":5},"title":"Despite hand-wringing about Churchill polar bears this year, 2023 wasn\u2019t their worst summer","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"For months, the media has been bleating about the poor polar bears of Churchill suffering from lack of sea ice blamed on human-caused climate change during the so-called\u00a0\u2018hottest year\u2019 on record: in\u00a0April,\u00a0July,\u00a0August,\u00a0November, and\u00a0December.","rel":"","context":"In \"2023\"","block_context":{"text":"2023","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=2023"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-201.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-201.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-201.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-201.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-201.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00Polar-bears-10.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=257313"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257328,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257313\/revisions\/257328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/257325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=257313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=257313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=257313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}