Abstract:
This report describes the results of a project sought to assess polar bear foraging and changes that might be occurring, in northwestern Alaska. More specifically the following were accomplished: assessing fatty acid constituents of fat/blubber samples from polar bears and from three potential prey species - the ringed seal, the bearded seal and the walrus; investigating whether fatty acid composition of prey species' blubber is consistent over time; using statistical analyses to assess the extent to which polar bear blubber resembles that of each prey species for two different time periods; and interpreting the information to describe polar bear feeding and foraging.
