Russian, American scientists count wildlife

The National Marine Fisheries Service has reported that Russian and American scientists are cooperating to conduct a bilateral project aimed at obtaining a count of polar bear and Arctic seal populations in the Chukchi Sea. The scientists are using both infrared and conventional high-resolution cameras in aerial surveys to spot the animals on sea ice and, thus, obtain estimates of animal populations.

The Fisheries Service says the two countries conducted similar surveys in 2012 and 2013 and that the surveys caused very little disturbance to wildlife or subsistence activities. The agency says those surveys resulted in the collection of more than 2.2 million photographs and 5.4 terabytes of thermal video.

The infrared technology is especially helpful in locating warm-blooded animals on the ice surface, with the white polar bears being especially difficult to see by eye or using conventional camera equipment. Animals located using infrared imagery can be identified in the corresponding photographs.

Since the ice-associated seals in particular spend much of their time in the water, the scientists conduct population counts during the mating and molting season, when the animals tend to haul out on the sea ice. The surveys are conducted between April and mid-June, a period that covers the typical haul out periods of the species in question. The use of infrared imagery enables surveys to be conducted from aircraft flying at an altitude of about 1,000 feet, rather than the 400-foot altitude used when surveys depended on human observers. This increased altitude greatly reduces the disturbance to the animals, and to subsistence hunters in the region, the scientists have reported.

The seals being surveyed consist of bearded, ringed, ribbon and spotted seals. Bearded seals and ringed seals, in particular, are vital resources for Alaska Native communities while also being key species in Arctic marine ecosystems, the Fisheries Service says. But reliable abundance estimates are not available for much of their ranges. Abundance data and distribution maps are critical to wildlife conservation and activity planning in the Arctic, the Fisheries Service says.

- ALAN BAILEY