The Polar Bear Scientists

Lourie takes us to Alaska to observe biologists researching a subpopulation of polar bears, then to the lab to see the care taken to properly process and store the data. Interspersed are commentaries from the project directors, who analyze the data and publicize the results. Crisp photographs convey the massive size of the animals and the details of the equipment needed to do research in such extreme conditions. Bib., glos., ind.

A richly detailed account of the work of a number of scientists who study polar bears, this book includes the scientists’ individual reflections on the majestic animals, and on concerns such as the thinning of Arctic sea ice. Copious photographs show polar bears roaming across the ice, swimming in the sea, and being captured and measured by scientists. There are also many informative images of scientists and their equipment, including helicopters, hollow dart tips, and satellite radio collars. Readers will learn about the scientists’ many responsibilities: after they locate the polar bears, they must sedate them with drug-filled darts, take measurements and biological samples, and sometimes apply radio tags, all in the few hours before the bears awaken.

In the latest entry in the series, Lourie takes us to Alaska to observe biologists researching a subpopulation of polar bears, adding to a data set that has been collected over the past forty years. The wealth of information collected over a two-week period each spring is important to documenting possible effects of global warming on the bears, now considered a threatened species due to increased melting of sea ice. Lourie joins the field research team on several dramatic helicopter expeditions, called captures, in search of polar bears to measure and tag. The accounts describe every detail of the work -- searching and locating the bears, flying in close enough to shoot a tranquilizer dart and sedate them, landing to collect samples and measurements, and tagging and tattooing new bears, or noting the numbers of those captured in previous seasons -- all in just under an hour. He then takes us back to the lab to see the painstaking care scientists take to properly process and store these data. Interspersed with the field report are commentaries from the project directors, who spend their time analyzing the data and publicizing their results. Crisp photographs of the polar bears and researchers effectively convey the massive size and beauty of the animals and the details of the equipment needed to do scientific research in such extreme conditions. A glossary, a suggested reading list, websites, and sources are appended. danielle j. ford