The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the National Environmental Research Institute are among the scientific organisations that have made love earth possible. They provide the valuable information and insight for the polar bear tracking section.

At a glance
Based in Nuuk on the west coast of Greenland, the GINR is internationally recognised for its studies of Arctic wildlife and natural resources including polar bears and their habitat. It led the March 2007 study (which includes our bears) in close cooperation with NERI, a world leader in studies of the effects of pollutants on Arctic marine mammals and wildlife. Based in Roskilde, Denmark, NERI is part of the University of Aarhus.

Funding for the study is provided by these two organisations and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, also based in Nuuk, Greenland.

Meet the people
Dr Erik W Born is a senior scientist at GINR and began his research on Arctic marine mammals in 1977. Since then he has studied various aspects of the ecology of many Arctic marine mammals, including polar bears, ringed seals and walruses. His research involves the use of various types of satellite transmitters, including collars and tags, to determine area use and migration.

Dr Rune Dietz is a senior scientist at NERI and has been involved in Arctic marine mammal research since 1982. He has studied various aspects of polar bears, ringed seals, walruses, narwhals and belugas, with his main focus being contaminant studies. His research uses satellite transmitters to identify critical habitats, seasonal movements and linkages between populations. Rune also conducts genetic studies.

Also prominent is Dr Øystein Wiig, professor and head of mammal collection at the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum. His research into Arctic marine mammals began in 1982, studying seal skulls. He has since studied the ecology of polar bears, walruses, seals and bowhead whales. Øystein has been the principal scientist in several studies using satellite telemetry.

Several other scientists collaborated on the polar bear studies featured in the tracking section of this website, including: Leif Toudal Pedersen (professor, Danish National Space Centre, Technical University of Denmark), Jon Aars and Magnus Andersen (research scientists, Norwegian Polar Institute) and Tore Haug (head of Research Group Marine Mammals, Institute of Marine Research, Norway).

 

'Our goal is to identify how the polar bears exploit the pack-ice. Which types of ice are important to them at different times of the year, and how will the receding ice affect them in the future?’ - Dr Erik W Born

What do the GINR and NERI do?
The GINR provides advice to the Greenlandic people on the sustainable use of the country’s living resources, on which Greenland is highly dependent. The exploitation of marine mammals is a cornerstone of traditional Inuit culture, and various species are hunted for subsistence purposes. The Institute advises how they can harvested sustainably. Around 40 people work at the GINR in three main areas: marine ecology, fisheries studies, and mammals, birds and vegetation.

NERI is responsible for providing advice to the Greenlandic government and conducting investigations on the trans-boundary spread of pollutants, resource exploration and related activities. Because marine mammals are important to the traditional Inuit diet, the NERI also studies and advises on food intake. The Department of Arctic Environment at NERI has around 35 staff.

What are the organisations doing for love earth?
In March 2007, the multinational team fitted satellite-monitored tags to polar bears off the eastern coast of Greenland. The bears were collared in the pack-ice (mobile sea-ice) where they were found during helicopter surveys flown from a Norwegian research vessel.

During March the bears roam the offshore ice in search of seals. The scientists are investigating how polar bears move around in this dynamic environment – the pack-ice is in the constantly south-flowing East Greenland current.

Thanks to the efforts and expertise of Dr Born and his colleagues, you can follow the stories of three real-life polar bears on this website. There are maps, facts, photos and more. This is scientific discovery in action, bringing events from the Arctic wilderness right to your desktop.

Why track polar bears?
Polar bears are widely distributed along the vast east coast of Greenland and in the offshore pack-ice between east Greenland and the Norwegian island of Svalbard. It’s a huge area, and we know very little about how the bears use the ice in this constantly shifting environment.

The ice in eastern Greenland has diminished rapidly over the last two decades. What effect this will have on the polar bears is unknown. With only 22,000 to 27,000 polar bears left in the wild, it’s imperative that we find out as much as we can about them before it’s too late.

Other risks include pollutants – the polar bears in this region are among the most contaminated in the Arctic. Studies of samples taken by scientists and also the Inuit have provided strong evidence that some individuals may be harmfully affected.