Polar Bears
Oct 3, 2016 06:43:24 #
Oct 3, 2016 06:53:16 #
Daisy61 wrote:
Went to visit these spectacular animals in Alaska!
At Kaktovik I assume? That must have been quite an adventure for you!
From an Alaskan perspective, Kaktovik is a very nice place. For someone from the Lower-48 it must be like nothing you could have even imagined, eh?
How many bears did you see, and how long a stay was your visit. Any other adventures?
Oct 3, 2016 06:57:25 #
Yes, you are correct ! I did think it was a very nice place. We were there for only a day , but we saw about 50 bears! It was a great experience !
Oct 3, 2016 07:07:07 #
Oct 3, 2016 07:31:51 #
Daisy61 wrote:
Yes, you are correct ! I did think it was a very nice place. We were there for only a day , but we saw about 50 bears! It was a great experience !
50! Wow! That is really something.
We get a few over this way, but while 15-20 years ago there were more here, these days it is not so common to see one. We used to set up a "bone pile" out at Point Barrow 10 miles from town, with the idea that it would draw the bears away from town. It didn't work that way! Instead it caused more bears to wander through town either coming or going to the bone pile. So for several years now there has been no bone pile and far fewer bears anywhere near Barrow. That is also because of far less ice in the Arctic Ocean near Barrow than there was just 10 years ago. It used to recede about 50 miles at most, these days there is no pack ice within 300 miles of Barrow all summer long. No ice, no polar bears.
Kaktovik is just over 300 miles from Barrow, to the southeast. The ice there doesn't move as far away in the summer.
I see you also got one heck of a fine view of Denali too! Your timing for a visit to Alaska was right on. Most folks don't have the sense to visit a bush village, and in the process miss the distinct part of Alaska and see only the part most similar to the Lower-48. That is a real shame, given what it costs just to get here. You did it right, and it seems to have really paid off!
Oct 3, 2016 07:33:57 #
Oct 3, 2016 08:44:11 #
Thank you. I love Alaska! It is the most beautiful state in the U.S. The first time we went we did a land and sea tour, we did ten days of land and seven days at sea, it was terrific, fun doing the touristy things , but we realized there was a lot more of Alaska to see and experience . It is sad that the ice and the glaciers are receding and disappearing, something the people in the lower 48 don't realize or even believe . This trip we did on our own and on our time , we could stop and go whenever we wanted, so we saw a lot more. We were lucky with the weather and enjoyed every day we were there. We are hoping to go back one more time in about 2 years. So nice talking to you.
Oct 3, 2016 09:01:19 #
Oct 3, 2016 15:56:36 #
Oct 3, 2016 15:57:04 #
Oct 3, 2016 15:57:24 #
Oct 3, 2016 16:53:04 #
Daisy61 wrote:
Went to visit these spectacular animals in Alaska!
Great shots!!
Oct 4, 2016 06:35:50 #
Apaflo wrote:
50! Wow! That is really something. br br We get ... (show quote)
That is amazing Apaflo! 46 years ago I was a Navy pilot stationed in Adak and in the summer we would fly scientists across the Bearing sea to Pt Barrow to count the polar bears. It was a fun assignment as we had to fly very low. I'm amazed that now there is no pack ice within 300 miles of Pt Barrow!
Oct 4, 2016 08:01:09 #
nimbushopper wrote:
That is amazing Apaflo! 46 years ago I was a Navy pilot stationed in Adak and in the summer we would fly scientists across the Bearing sea to Pt Barrow to count the polar bears. It was a fun assignment as we had to fly very low. I'm amazed that now there is no pack ice within 300 miles of Pt Barrow!
Adak to Barrow is one long flight! 1970 was also just before the Marine Mammals Protection Act was passed, and guided Polar Bear hunts had nearly wiped them out. Along the Bering Sea coast at least as far north as Point Hope, which is well above the Arctic Circle, there were virtually no Polar Bears left. I don't think anyone in the village of Wales, right on the Bering Straits, had seen a bear in at least half a dozen years by at that time! After the Act was passed in 1972 it took ten years before bears were again commonly seen in that area.
As for pack ice around Barrow, it has receded at least 200 miles or more away from Barrow every summer now for over a decade. Worse, there is virtually no multi-year ice left in this part of the Arctic. Global warming is a very real thing, and in the Arctic it is very significant. Last weekend I took a 4-wheeler ride down the beach southwest of Barrow and one of the things I noticed was that while it used to be that beach erosion was easy enough to find, today it is everywhere. Finding a section of beach where erosion was not taking place was difficult.
Oct 4, 2016 08:15:53 #
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