@aederocher.bsky.social
Interesting new website: "Nanuk Narratives" is an Inuit-led docuseries of short videos that delves into the deep and enduring relationship among Inuit and polar bears (nanuk) in and around the Davis Strait.
www.nanuknarratives.com
www.nanuknarratives.com
Nanuk Narratives | Inuit Voices on Polar Bears
Documentary film series about Inuit knowledge and connections with polar bears in Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and Greenland.
www.nanuknarratives.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Interesting new website: "Nanuk Narratives" is an Inuit-led docuseries of short videos that delves into the deep and enduring relationship among Inuit and polar bears (nanuk) in and around the Davis Strait.
www.nanuknarratives.com
www.nanuknarratives.com
Reposted
Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the *lowest* on record (JAXA data)...
• about 450,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,030,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,580,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,010,000 km² below the 1980s mean
More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
• about 450,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,030,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,580,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,010,000 km² below the 1980s mean
More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
January 19, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the *lowest* on record (JAXA data)...
• about 450,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,030,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,580,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,010,000 km² below the 1980s mean
More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
• about 450,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 1,030,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 1,580,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 2,010,000 km² below the 1980s mean
More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Hudson Bay polar bears continue their outward migration. Bear H near Cape Churchill was in the denning area last week but is now on the ice. Likely a failed litter. Bears leaving in January don't usually have cubs. Hard to say what happened.
January 17, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Hudson Bay polar bears continue their outward migration. Bear H near Cape Churchill was in the denning area last week but is now on the ice. Likely a failed litter. Bears leaving in January don't usually have cubs. Hard to say what happened.
Hudson Bay polar bears are well spread out. It's interesting to see bear E4 (adult male, northern most bear in centre of Bay) moving to the SW in the past week. It's a typical distribution for a time of year when hunting success is likely low (but we have little data on this).
January 11, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Hudson Bay polar bears are well spread out. It's interesting to see bear E4 (adult male, northern most bear in centre of Bay) moving to the SW in the past week. It's a typical distribution for a time of year when hunting success is likely low (but we have little data on this).
Bear E4? Genetics show he has no prior history in western or southern Hudson Bay & suggests that he was visiting from Foxe Basin & just "went home" after a southern spring fling. There's a lot of gene flow between the 3 populations in the Bay & he was just looking for love.
January 8, 2026 at 4:47 AM
Bear E4? Genetics show he has no prior history in western or southern Hudson Bay & suggests that he was visiting from Foxe Basin & just "went home" after a southern spring fling. There's a lot of gene flow between the 3 populations in the Bay & he was just looking for love.
Hudson Bay polar bears shifted a bit to the south this week. The bears follow sea ice habitats but are influenced by the direction of wind (affect hunting) & ice also drifts with wind & currents. Fairly normal distribution now even with late freeze up.
January 4, 2026 at 4:12 AM
Hudson Bay polar bears shifted a bit to the south this week. The bears follow sea ice habitats but are influenced by the direction of wind (affect hunting) & ice also drifts with wind & currents. Fairly normal distribution now even with late freeze up.
Hudson Bay polar bears are following their usual outbound migration now: get away from shore. They likely encounter unsuspecting ringed seals as they fan out across the Bay. It's surprising how prey "forget" about predators until they're reminded / re-encounter them.
December 28, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Hudson Bay polar bears are following their usual outbound migration now: get away from shore. They likely encounter unsuspecting ringed seals as they fan out across the Bay. It's surprising how prey "forget" about predators until they're reminded / re-encounter them.
Hudson Bay polar bears are making up for lost time and pushing offshore. Time for seals to remember what predators are: no holiday for seals but a feast ahead for the bears.
December 20, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Hudson Bay polar bears are making up for lost time and pushing offshore. Time for seals to remember what predators are: no holiday for seals but a feast ahead for the bears.
Reposted
The freeze-up in the Hudson Bay (Canada) has been one of the latest on record for #Arctic sea ice. This is consistent with the long-term trend of a lengthening open water season.
Data from @nsidc.bsky.social at nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
Data from @nsidc.bsky.social at nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
December 18, 2025 at 12:44 PM
The freeze-up in the Hudson Bay (Canada) has been one of the latest on record for #Arctic sea ice. This is consistent with the long-term trend of a lengthening open water season.
Data from @nsidc.bsky.social at nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
Data from @nsidc.bsky.social at nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
Reposted
Looking back over the last 12 months, all latitude bands observed above average temperatures. This was largest in the Arctic region.
Plot shows zonal-mean surface air temperature anomalies, where latitude = x-axis (not scaled by distance). Data from NASA GISTEMPv4 (1951-1980 baseline).
Plot shows zonal-mean surface air temperature anomalies, where latitude = x-axis (not scaled by distance). Data from NASA GISTEMPv4 (1951-1980 baseline).
December 15, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Looking back over the last 12 months, all latitude bands observed above average temperatures. This was largest in the Arctic region.
Plot shows zonal-mean surface air temperature anomalies, where latitude = x-axis (not scaled by distance). Data from NASA GISTEMPv4 (1951-1980 baseline).
Plot shows zonal-mean surface air temperature anomalies, where latitude = x-axis (not scaled by distance). Data from NASA GISTEMPv4 (1951-1980 baseline).
Western Hudson Bay polar bears are still hugging the coast this year (left map). They were farther offshore last year but a slow freeze-up has restricted where they can go. Bears on land may be pregnant females in dens.
December 14, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Western Hudson Bay polar bears are still hugging the coast this year (left map). They were farther offshore last year but a slow freeze-up has restricted where they can go. Bears on land may be pregnant females in dens.
Wondering how Hudson Bay & area polar bear habitat is shaping up? It's pretty bad. Red areas show where there's missing sea ice. We'll know if it has affected the bears in the spring during research but it doesn't bode well. Put simply, polar bears need sea ice.
December 10, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Wondering how Hudson Bay & area polar bear habitat is shaping up? It's pretty bad. Red areas show where there's missing sea ice. We'll know if it has affected the bears in the spring during research but it doesn't bode well. Put simply, polar bears need sea ice.
Sea ice observable by satellite is looking thin & unconsolidated. Nothing you or I could walk on but polar bears are less concerned about having to swim. The bears are still close to shore but it's -29 C in Arviat & that = good ice growing conditions.
December 7, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Sea ice observable by satellite is looking thin & unconsolidated. Nothing you or I could walk on but polar bears are less concerned about having to swim. The bears are still close to shore but it's -29 C in Arviat & that = good ice growing conditions.
Hudson Bay polar bears are slowly moving farther offshore. The lack of ice is constraining their movements. Colder weather will help them get to where they want to be.
December 7, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Hudson Bay polar bears are slowly moving farther offshore. The lack of ice is constraining their movements. Colder weather will help them get to where they want to be.
Eastern Arctic is missing a lot of polar bear habitat this December (red areas). Things may improve for the bears as the temperatures are finally colder & sufficient for cooling the Bay & making sea ice. At this time of year, bears would normally be migrating offshore. Soon if it stays cold.
December 4, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Eastern Arctic is missing a lot of polar bear habitat this December (red areas). Things may improve for the bears as the temperatures are finally colder & sufficient for cooling the Bay & making sea ice. At this time of year, bears would normally be migrating offshore. Soon if it stays cold.
It's a bit hard to see with the cloud but there's precious little sea ice in Hudson Bay & thus, not much habitat for polar bears. At this time of year, they should be well out into the Bay. Some bears will kill seals under these conditions but they're far from optimal.
December 2, 2025 at 4:56 PM
It's a bit hard to see with the cloud but there's precious little sea ice in Hudson Bay & thus, not much habitat for polar bears. At this time of year, they should be well out into the Bay. Some bears will kill seals under these conditions but they're far from optimal.
Reposted
The extent of global sea ice cover is more than 3 million square kilometers below the 1981-2010 average. This is the 2nd lowest on record for this date over the satellite-era.
Data from nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
Data from nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
November 29, 2025 at 2:50 PM
The extent of global sea ice cover is more than 3 million square kilometers below the 1981-2010 average. This is the 2nd lowest on record for this date over the satellite-era.
Data from nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
Data from nsidc.org/data/seaice_...
Western Hudson Bay polar bears are trying to get onto the sea ice but there's precious little ice for them to use. Nearshore is largely unconsolidated / mushy but the cold weather coming should help. It's a late freeze-up but not perilously so for the bears.
November 29, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Western Hudson Bay polar bears are trying to get onto the sea ice but there's precious little ice for them to use. Nearshore is largely unconsolidated / mushy but the cold weather coming should help. It's a late freeze-up but not perilously so for the bears.
Wondering how polar bear habitat in Hudson Bay is doing? Bluntly, not well this year. Red areas are missing sea ice: should have ice but don't. The white areas are not usually frozen & aren't so that's normal but nothing else is. Late freeze-up. Some bears will be struggling with low energy stores.
November 27, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Wondering how polar bear habitat in Hudson Bay is doing? Bluntly, not well this year. Red areas are missing sea ice: should have ice but don't. The white areas are not usually frozen & aren't so that's normal but nothing else is. Late freeze-up. Some bears will be struggling with low energy stores.
Hudson Bay polar bears have nowhere to go (no ice of significance) & it's still much warmer than normal. When I started studying the bears here in 1984, they were back on the ice weeks earlier. At 1 kg mass loss/day, the bears would welcome some frigid weather.
November 24, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Hudson Bay polar bears have nowhere to go (no ice of significance) & it's still much warmer than normal. When I started studying the bears here in 1984, they were back on the ice weeks earlier. At 1 kg mass loss/day, the bears would welcome some frigid weather.
Hudson Bay sea ice is slow to form this autumn. I've seen some rather skinny polar bears on various forums. It's cool but far from cold in Churchill: normal lows should be about -17 C but it's only -10 C. Not much sea ice forms at those temperatures.
November 16, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Hudson Bay sea ice is slow to form this autumn. I've seen some rather skinny polar bears on various forums. It's cool but far from cold in Churchill: normal lows should be about -17 C but it's only -10 C. Not much sea ice forms at those temperatures.
Reposted
Let me excerpt the concluding paragraph:
October 31, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Let me excerpt the concluding paragraph:
The benefit of being in a Tundra Buggy is that a bear is close but not a threat...
November 1, 2025 at 2:15 AM
The benefit of being in a Tundra Buggy is that a bear is close but not a threat...
Nowhere close to freeze up in Hudson Bay this year. It's far too warm. No sea ice anywhere. Things can change quickly but the Bay has to cool a lot before ice strong enough to support polar bears shows up. Watch the Bay live here:
explore.org/livecams/pol...
explore.org/livecams/pol...
October 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Nowhere close to freeze up in Hudson Bay this year. It's far too warm. No sea ice anywhere. Things can change quickly but the Bay has to cool a lot before ice strong enough to support polar bears shows up. Watch the Bay live here:
explore.org/livecams/pol...
explore.org/livecams/pol...
Latest polar bear paper exploring their role in providing carrion to other vertebrate species. Polar bears provide approximately 7,600,000 kg/year of carrion biomass for scavengers across their range.
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... [open access]
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... [open access]
October 28, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Latest polar bear paper exploring their role in providing carrion to other vertebrate species. Polar bears provide approximately 7,600,000 kg/year of carrion biomass for scavengers across their range.
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... [open access]
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... [open access]