URSP Student Cassandra Kostiuk Studies Long Distance Swimming Behaviors in Polar Bears
My research project is a study on the long
distance swimming behaviors in polar bears and whether males or females are
driven to undertake these swims more frequently. I became interested in polar
bear conservation during a class on marine mammal biology after learning
extensively about the numerous threats toward the species as a result of global
climate change. To cope with the affects on the Arctic environment, polar bear
ecology is changing and by studying these changes, more educated conservation
efforts can be enacted. Through another class on marine ecology I became
specifically interested in the increasing distances that polar bears were
swimming. These swims often result in drowning, which draws attention to the
issue of climate change. My long-term goals are to continue my education in
graduate school and pursue a career in Arctic conservation. I’d like to attend
graduate school in Alaska and continue working on polar bear behavior. On a
weekly basis I collect data from published papers about GPS tagged polar bear
movements and determine what movements are considered long distance swimming
events. From there I organize the data based on sex of the polar bear, distance
swam, and date(s) of the swimming event. The data will allow me to draw
conclusions about the differences in long distance swimming between sexes of
polar bears. I also search for journal articles about new research about polar
bear ecology. This week I discovered an explanation for a slight bias in
collaring female polar bears more frequently than males. One paper I read
simply stated that male polar bears have necks that are just too large for the
GPS collars and it results in less data regarding male polar bear movements.
My research project is a study on the long
distance swimming behaviors in polar bears and whether males or females are
driven to undertake these swims more frequently. I became interested in polar
bear conservation during a class on marine mammal biology after learning
extensively about the numerous threats toward the species as a result of global
climate change. To cope with the affects on the Arctic environment, polar bear
ecology is changing and by studying these changes, more educated conservation
efforts can be enacted. Through another class on marine ecology I became
specifically interested in the increasing distances that polar bears were
swimming. These swims often result in drowning, which draws attention to the
issue of climate change. My long-term goals are to continue my education in
graduate school and pursue a career in Arctic conservation. I’d like to attend
graduate school in Alaska and continue working on polar bear behavior. On a
weekly basis I collect data from published papers about GPS tagged polar bear
movements and determine what movements are considered long distance swimming
events. From there I organize the data based on sex of the polar bear, distance
swam, and date(s) of the swimming event. The data will allow me to draw
conclusions about the differences in long distance swimming between sexes of
polar bears. I also search for journal articles about new research about polar
bear ecology. This week I discovered an explanation for a slight bias in
collaring female polar bears more frequently than males. One paper I read
simply stated that male polar bears have necks that are just too large for the
GPS collars and it results in less data regarding male polar bear movements. 
