Cold enough today (-20 C / -4 F) that open leads were freezing overnight in Hudson Bay. It may rain on Thursday... Spring polar bear research conditions are always interesting.

Winds from the south are opening up the shore lead north of Cape Churchill. Sea ice is an extremely dynamic habitat with large daily, seasonal & annual variation. This spring might be a good one for polar bears in W. Hudson Bay. We've handled some very chubby bears. Bodes well.

A fully consumed ringed seal killed by a polar bear about 120 km ENE Cape Churchill. The bear stayed with the kill for a while. Needless to say, there's not much fibre in a polar bear diet.

Great graphic on CNSC vehicle! The old Study Centre is in the background (originally built for research rocket launching). The old CNSC was rustic compare to the current version: I spent many days in that old building waiting for weather to clear (like today).

Mating season injury on an adult male polar bear. This probably hurts like crazy (especially when the wind is blowing) but I've seen far worse injuries from fights over estrus females. Some males only get a few chances to mate over their lifetime & competition is intense.

The conditions over Hudson Bay at 9:43 this morning. Within 1 hour, the faint grey band of haze turned into total overcast & snow. We were back in ahead of it. Arctic weather is something we watch very closely during polar bear field research.

I was sent this armchair biologist 'insight'. More annual ice does nothing for polar bears if it's over water >200 m which much is: multiyear to annual ice over Polar Basin. Landfast ice isn't preferred by ringed seals => wrong. Very wrong in Hudson Bay with little landfast.

Over the sea ice in Hudson Bay doing polar bear research. The ice is quite packed together thanks to strong north winds.

Bearded seal pup killed by a polar bear north of Churchill. Female bear was in very good condition and hadn't bothered to eat the pup & had just made a bed to snooze in beside it. A post-nap snack? Very young pup - umbilicus still fresh.

Our base of operations CNSC for polar bear research this spring. I've stayed with the Churchill Northern Studies Centre during research for over 40 years: 3 different buildings. Amazing outfit. Collectively, I've lived many years with them.

Not a day for polar bear research out on the sea ice. 2 km visibility, wind gusting to 62 km/h & snow. Patience is a big part of Arctic research.

W. Hudson Bay polar bears in close to the coast except for a few wanderers. We were on the ice yesterday & there were lots of bears north & NE of Churchill. Today - blizzard conditions so we're sitting tight CNSC

Above average ice cover in Svalbard. Note that the 'average' doesn't go back to the start of the ice data in 1979. Possible shifting baseline. Nonetheless, for polar bears, it could be a good year but to recruit a cub to the population takes 4 'good' or at least OK years.

Beyond the little trees there be polar bears! High winds (>60 km/h), snow & cloud kept us on the ground (again) today. We're comfortable at the CNSC Collectively since 1984, I've spent something like 4 years living in the Churchill area (lots of it waiting for weather).

The increase in graduate & post-doc funding in Canada was long overdue but at last some well need infusion happened.
nature.com/articles/d4158…

Polar bear research with UAlbertaScience in Western Hudson Bay is back on the sea ice now. Ice conditions are OK but we're waiting for weather today: snowing & windy in Churchill. Staying with CNSC - a great place to base!

W. Hudson Bay polar bears staying close to home this spring. Such a distribution often bodes well for the bears as less movement about the Bay uses less energy. A few bears have wandered a bit. We're analyzing ice conditions to understand migration / movement variation.

#Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 12th lowest on record (JAXA data)

• about 30,000 km² above the 2010s mean
• about 300,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 770,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 1,310,000 km² below the 1980s mean

Plots: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice…

Fieldwork Friday: Polar bear peak breeding season now. We're back on the sea ice next week conducting research. Tracks provide insights: mating pairs often stay in small area (reduces discovery by competing males). Males herd females & mating areas can look like a barnyard.