Polar Bear Tracker

Polar Bear Tracker FAQ

• What is the Polar Bear Tracker?

  The Polar Bear Tracker follows the movements of satellite-collared polar bears in Hudson Bay, Canada. The tracking is part of a long-term research project conducted by our partners at the University of Alberta and Environment and Climate Change Canada.

• Why has my selected bear stopped moving?

  If you don’t see recent updates, don’t worry! The tracking device may be experiencing technical difficulties due to the harsh Arctic habitat and is offline for now. This is normal and the bear may come back online soon.

• Why are polar bears collared?

  The GPS collars allow researchers to track polar bears, helping us learn about their movements in response to sea ice loss caused by climate change. Because polar bears prefer to roam far out on sea ice, where it is dangerous for humans to travel, data from satellite collars gives scientists a rare glimpse into the lives of polar bears, including the habitats they use and the vast distances they travel.

• How do the collars work?

  The GPS collar transmits location data to a satellite, from which researchers can then download movement information. The collar’s battery life depends on how often it shares data. To prolong the battery life, the collar typically sends data to the satellite every four hours

• What are the collars made of?

  Collars are built with flexible, synthetic material that sheds water and ice and stays flexible in cold temperatures but is strong enough to withstand Arctic marine conditions for at least one year.

• Why are all the collared polar bears adult females?

  Adult males can’t be collared because their necks are as wide as their heads, so the collars slip right off! And juvenile bears grow too quickly to fit with a collar.

• How often do you update the Polar Bear Tracker?

  We use the term “real-time tracking” because the collar transmits location data to the collection site several times a day. However, we receive the information weekly and deliberately delay publishing the data. We publish 1-3 new locations roughly once a week as available, usually from October to July.

• One of the collars hasn't updated recently. Why is that?

  It is difficult to make technology reliable in the Arctic. The Arctic’s harsh and remote environment makes tracking polar bears challenging and costly. The cold weather, freezing salty waters, and bears who like to rub on the sea ice take a toll on the collars. Sometimes collars stop transmitting for a few months or sometimes they power down entirely until they fall off.

• How long are polar bears collared?

  Each collar is programmed to last 1-2 years, then automatically fall off using a timer. Some bears have been collared more than once throughout their lives (contributing extremely important data to our understanding of polar bears), but not for longer than two years at one time.

  These days, most collars are programmed to last one year or less. If a collar lasts a full 12 months on a polar bear, researchers are pretty happy.

• How do the collars come off?

  The collars have a release mechanism with an internal clock that researchers can program. Researchers usually set the timer so that the collar will fall off shortly before the batteries are drained, and the collar is no longer transmitting.

  Also, the collars are attached with steel nuts and brass bolts that eventually corrode in a saltwater environment, causing the collar to fall off even if the release mechanism fails. Once they fall off, a GPS location allows researchers to find the collar (if in a retrievable spot), download any stored data, refurbish, and send it out again to save money.

• How many bears are collared each year?

  The number of collared bears varies according to project goals, the region, how well-funded a project is in a given year, and how successful researchers are in catching adult females. Usually, 5-10 bears are collared in western Hudson Bay each fall.

• Are collars the only way to track polar bears?

  Right now, collars can provide the longest and most robust datasets for polar bear movements on sea ice. GPS-linked ear tags have been deployed on male polar bears in recent years with some success, but they rarely last longer than 5 or 6 months. We are currently developing and testing new methods of tracking polar bears that can both withstand Arctic conditions and allow scientists to track adult males and juvenile bears, providing critical data on these two key groups. Check out our Burr on Fur project!

• Can I use the Polar Bear Tracker in my classroom?

  Yes! We encourage teachers and students to make use of the Bear Tracker when possible. Our lessons and materials, along with our Tundra Connections webcasts, make for a wonderful way to learn about polar bears in the classroom.

• Can you share the Polar Bear Tracker data for my school project?

  Unfortunately, we are not able to share the actual coordinates of the bears, as the GPS data do not belong to us. Also, the data are currently being used for research projects that have not yet been published, and so are not available to the public at this time.

  For publicly available polar bear data, please check out the USGS Polar Bear Research page.