Newly detected haul-out of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) on Yamal Peninsula has become the biggest in the Kara Sea

Polar Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Boltunov ◽  
V. S. Semenova ◽  
A. A. Sokolov ◽  
A. A. Kucheyko
Keyword(s):  
Kara Sea ◽  
Yamal Peninsula ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus Rosmarus

MONITORING THE DYNAMICS OF THERMOABRASION COASTS AT KHARASAVEY AREA, WESTERN YAMAL (KARA SEA)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry Kuznetsov ◽  
Dmitry Kuznetsov ◽  
Anatoliy Kamalov ◽  
Anatoliy Kamalov ◽  
Nataliya Belova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Motor Vehicles ◽  
Yamal Peninsula ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Frozen Ground ◽  
Coastal Dynamics ◽  
The North ◽  
Ice Content

The dynamics of thermoabrasion coasts on loose sediments under permafrost conditions are highly variable due to several factors: length of the dynamic period of the year, mechanic composition of the frozen ground and its ice content, hydrometeorological conditions, and human impact. Multiannual monitoring of the coastal zone was carried out by Lab. Geoecology of the North (Moscow State University) at the 22 km long Kharasavey deposit site, Western Coast of Yamal Peninsula (Kara Sea). The methods include direct measurements and observations (repeated topographic survey of shore transects from 1981 to 2012) along with remote sensing data analysis (images from 1964 to 2011). This allowed producing detailed characteristics of coastal dynamics. At the site, thermoabrasion coasts occupy the most part, and accumulative coasts are present in the north. Data on natural relief forming factors and ground composition are included in the detailed geomorphologic map of the site. Shore retreat rate shows correlation to amounts of wind-wave energy and to specific wind directions. Human impact on the coast includes dredging at the port channel, mining of sand, driving motor vehicles, and deposition of construction debris. Relations between shore retreat rate and aforementioned factors were studied, including dependencies on ice content, and shore segmentation was carried out. This allows for coastal dynamics forecasts in the region.

A TRITIATED WATER EXPERIMENT ON A MALE ATLANTIC WALRUS (ODOBENUS ROSMARUS ROSMARUS)

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lydersen ◽  
David Griffiths ◽  
Ian Gjertz ◽  
Oystein Wiig
Keyword(s):  
Tritiated Water ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus Rosmarus ◽  
Atlantic Walrus

Summer foods of Atlantic walrus, Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus, in northern Foxe Basin, Northwest Territories

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. 1166-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. I. Fisher ◽  
R. E. A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Benthic Invertebrates ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Foxe Basin ◽  
Important Prey ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus ◽  
Serripes Groenlandicus ◽  
Gross Energy ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus Rosmarus ◽  
Atlantic Walrus

Stomach contents of Atlantic walrus, Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus, taken by Inuit hunters in northern Foxe Basin in July 1987 and 1988 (n = 105) and September 1988 (n = 2) were examined. In July, 20 of 94 stomachs from immature and adult walrus contained > 5 g of food representing 17 prey taxa, including bivalves, gastropods, holothurians, polychaetes, and brachiopods. The bivalve Mya truncata contributed 81.4% of the total gross energy in the diet, with the bivalve Hiatella arctica, holothurians, and the polychaete Nereis sp. contributing 7.5, 3.5, and 2.8%, respectively. The diets of male and female walrus were similar except that females received a significantly (P < 0.05) greater percentage of gross energy in their diet from H. arctica than did males. Walrus less than 3 years old (n = 11) consumed mostly milk, although some benthic invertebrates were eaten. Analysis of the contents of two stomachs collected in September suggested that walrus may feed more intensively in the fall. Mya truncata was again the predominant prey, contributing 59.9% of total gross energy, with the bivalve Serripes groenlandicus (37.9%) replacing H. arctica (0.3%) as the second most important prey.

scholarly journals Management of Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) in the arctic Atlantic

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Øystein Wiig ◽  
Erik W Born ◽  
Robert EA Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Current Control ◽  
Arctic Sea Ice ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Canada ◽  
Quota System ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus Rosmarus

We review the management of Atlantic walruses (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) past and present in the four range states—Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia—which have permanent populations of Atlantic walruses. Populations in all four countries have been depleted, although the extent of depletion is not well known. Inuit in Arctic Canada and Greenland hunt Atlantic walruses for subsistence while they have been protected at Svalbard (Norway) since 1952 and in the western Russian Arctic since 1956. Since the second half of the 20th Century Canada and Greenland have increased protection of their walrus. Generally the number of walruses landed in Canada is governed by the number of hunters and/or people in the settlement and not by stock-specific quotas. Although quotas have been set in few communities, it is not known if they are adequate to prevent overhunting. A quota system for walrus hunting in Greenland began in 2006. The current control system is largely effective in ensuring the quotas are applied and that reporting is correct. Greenland currently sets quotas based on recommendations from scientific assessments using recent population estimates to allow population growth from a depleted population.  A challenge with respect to managing walrus hunting remains the variable and sometimes high rates of lost animals. Since the 1960s changes in socio-economics in hunting areas of Arctic Canada and Greenland (and the use of snowmobiles instead of dog sleds in Canada) have led to a general decrease in interest in hunting of walruses and reduced harvest on walrus stocks in these countries. Although there is an active ongoing cooperation between Canada and Greenland scientists regarding assessments of shared populations of walruses currently there is no formal agreement between the two range states on co-management of shared stocks. Protection of walrus from other anthropogenic impacts generally focusses on large-scale industrial activity. The level of protection afforded to walrus habitat in many areas depends entirely on the rigor with which the Environmental Impact Assessments are conducted. Basic information on walrus such as numbers and stock discreteness is often lacking and sufficient lead-time is required to collect baseline data. Moreover, although most environmental protection legislation considers ‘cumulative impacts’, practical application remains problematic. The effectiveness of environmental protection regulations depends on industry compliance and the management authorities’ ability to enforce compliance. Because walrus are found in remote locations, enforcement remains a challenge. Increased human activity allowed by the current change in distribution and quality of arctic sea ice poses new threats to walrus if not well regulated. International agreements have varying importance for management within and among member states. Regulations governing international trade serve to identify illegally obtained products and to encourage range states to have a sustainable quota system. International cooperation in information sharing has had clear benefits for management of walruses in the past. The maintenance and expansion of these international efforts will improve the management of Atlantic walruses in the future. 

scholarly journals Deep and extensive meltwater system beneath the former Eurasian Ice Sheet in the Kara Sea

Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandr Montelli ◽  
Julian A. Dowdeswell ◽  
Anastasiya Pirogova ◽  
Yana Terekhina ◽  
Mikhail Tokarev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Yamal Peninsula ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Eastern Margin

Abstract The Eurasian ice sheet extended across the Barents and Kara Seas during the late Quaternary, yet evidence on past ice dynamics and thermal structure across its huge eastern periphery remains largely unknown. Here we use three-dimensional seismic data sets covering ∼4500 km2 of the Kara Sea west of Yamal Peninsula, Siberia (71°–73°N), to identify, for the first time in the Russian Arctic seas, several buried generations of vast subglacial tunnel valley networks. Individual valleys are up to 50 km long and are incised as much as 400 m deep; among the largest tunnel valleys ever reported. This discovery represents the first documentation of an extensively warm-based eastern margin of the Eurasian ice sheet during the Quaternary glaciations. The presence of major subglacial channel networks on the shallow shelf, with no evidence of ice streaming, suggests that significant meltwater discharge and subsequent freshwater forcing of ocean circulation may be long-lived rather than catastrophic, occurring during the latest stages of deglaciation in areas where the ice sheet flows slowly and is grounded largely above sea level. Furthermore, the first account of an extensive hydrological network across large areas of the Kara Sea provides important empirical evidence for active subglacial hydrological processes that should be considered in future numerical modeling of the eastern margin of the Quaternary Eurasian ice sheet.

Integrating cultural and biological perspectives on long-term human-walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) interactions across the North Atlantic

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Xénia Keighley ◽  
Morten Tange Olsen ◽  
Peter Jordan
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Historical Ecology ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Population Modelling ◽  
The North ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus ◽  
Biological Studies ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus Rosmarus

AbstractThe hunting of marine mammals as a source of subsistence, trade, and commercial revenue has formed an important part of human cultures across the North Atlantic. One important prey species has been the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus), sought after for meat, skin, blubber, ivory, and bone. Unfortunately, biological studies of current walrus populations and studies across the humanities and social sciences into past use and hunting of walruses, have been poorly integrated. Disciplinary boundaries have left a gap in understanding the reciprocal effects of human-walrus interactions. Emerging interdisciplinary methods offer new opportunities to write the historical ecology of Atlantic walruses. The integration of methods such as ancient DNA, isotopes, past population modelling, zooarchaeological assemblages, and ethnographic interviews can now be used to answer previously intractable questions. For example, how has walrus hunting shaped and been influenced by changes in human settlement and trade, what have been the cumulative impacts on walrus populations, the extent of anthropogenic selective pressures or the effect of changing hunting regimes on particular populations of walruses? New, collaborative research approaches applied to the wealth of Arctic archaeological faunal remains already housed in museum collections offer a unique chance to explore the past dynamics of human-animal interactions.

Historical sex-specific distribution of Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus) in Svalbard assessed by mandible measurements

Polar Biology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Øystein Wiig ◽  
Erik W. Born ◽  
Ian Gjertz ◽  
Christian Lydersen ◽  
Robert E. A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Odobenus Rosmarus ◽  
Specific Distribution ◽  
Odobenus Rosmarus Rosmarus ◽  
Atlantic Walrus
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document