Although little is known about the currents and conditions of the area near
Wrangel Island, telemetry studies of beluga whales (Richard et al., 2001) and ringed seals (see beaufortseals.com/telemetry.htm) indicate these two species also spend more time in this area relative to other areas in the Chukchi Sea in the fall.
The data were subdivided into seven areas extending from north of
Wrangel Island southeastward toward the Bering Strait and then northwestward off the coast of Alaska to Point Barrow.
The importance of arctic cod to the ivory gull diet is clear: this food item has been documented in the Chukchi Sea (Divoky, 1976), the Barents Sea (Mehlum, 1990), the Svalbard region (Mehlum and Gabrielsen, 1993), near
Wrangel Island (Stishov et al., 1991), and now in northern Baffin Bay (this study).
The snows to which Ostrom refers are known as the Frasier-Skagit population, a group of whites that breed on
Wrangel Island, Russia, north of the Arctic Circle.
In contrast, post-denning bears on
Wrangel Island were observed ranging up to 1 km from den entrances as they created extensive networks of trails and daybeds in a gradual, progressive movement away from den sites (Uspenski and Kistchinski, 1972).
In my view, there are three crown jewels in the polar bear world: Wapusk National Park, Manitoba; Kong Karls Land in Svalbard, Norway; and
Wrangel Island in Russia.
Sher (1997), in refining these concepts, states that Western Beringida includes the shelves of the East Siberian and Laptev seas extending from about
Wrangel Island to the Taimyr Peninsula.
Pacific brant nest across Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and North Slope, in the western and central Arctic, Queen Maud Gulf and Russia's
Wrangel Island. The 2011 population estimate for brant increased a modest 3 percent from 2010, and good nesting conditions were observed.
85 it is stated that Amundsen's Maud "never succeeded in entering the Arctic icepack." After Amundsen had left the expedition, but while he was still in overall charge, Maud entered the ice east of
Wrangel Island on 8 August 1922, under the command of Harald Sverdrup, and drifted with the ice until 9 August 1924, when she emerged north of the New Siberian Islands.
Most polar bear terrestrial den habitat in Alaska lacks the steep relief typical of concentrated denning areas on Herald Island (Ovsyanikov, 1998),
Wrangel Island (Uspenski and Kistchinski, 1972), and the islands of the Svalbard archipelago (Larsen, 1985).
Recent Hg deposition rates along the northern Siberian coast, including
Wrangel Island off northeastern Siberia, are possibly 50-100% higher than in preindustrial times and are correlated with recent increases in Pb deposition (Rognerud et al., 1998).
Site Species Mitkof Island Stikine River
Wrangel Island Anaxyrus boreas 1 1262 10 Pseudacris regilla 0 0 0 Lithobates sylvaticus 0 35 0 Rana luteiventris 11 854 0 Rana spp.