Damage response, Monitoring, Research

With the approval of oil and gas leasing in the 1002 Area of Alaska, the Service initiated a study to estimate the potential impacts of a late summer, near-shore oil spill on polar bears. We simulated oil spills at three locations along the 1002 Area coastline in late summer/early autumn and assumed spills came from an underwater pipeline rupture that lasted 6 days and which the oil was tracked for a 50-day period. Based on previous studies of onshore polar bear density and space use, we will estimate how many bears could possibly be exposed to oil.

Contact

man outside in a striped shirt
Wildlife Biologist - Polar Bears
Alaska Marine Mammals Management Office
Expertise
Wildlife movement, space use, and resource selection,
Development of ecological models to inform wildlife management decisions,
quantitative ecology
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Area
AK
Anchorage,AK
A close-up of a man with a rocky mountain slope and small plane in the background
Manager/Supervisory Biologist - Polar Bears
Alaska Marine Mammals Management Office
Expertise
Human-wildlife conflict management,
Nutritional, spatial, and habitat ecology of large mammals
Area
AK
Anchorage,AK

Programs

A polar bear has black eyes and nose, and small ears, in a thick pelt of white fur.
Under direction of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska is responsible for the conservation of polar bears, northern sea otters, and Pacific walruses that inhabit Alaskan waters. Our sister agency, the National...
Program
Anchorage,AK

Species

Two large white bears along the coast.

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is the largest of the extant bear species and is classified as a marine mammal. Polar bears are protected under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits the take, which is defined as...

FWS Focus
Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Species