In the past, many bears in the Beaufort Sea would den on the ice. Due to climate change, more bears are denning along the coastal plain, making it even more important for polar bear survival. Polar bears also use the coastal plain for feeding and resting during the autumn. As climate change further reduces the size of pack ice each year, more bears will turn to the land for longer periods of time.

Polar bears are highly vulnerable to disturbances from human activity. Oil exploration impacts denning bears in a number of ways. Exploration equipment drives too close to the dens and sends shock waves through the ground as it searches for oil and gas reserves. Polar bear mothers may abandon their dens and their cubs. Polar bear cubs are born tiny and vulnerable and cannot leave their dens until they are three months old. Abandoned cubs die. Oil exploration companies say they avoid known polar bear dens. However, since only about 5 percent of bears are radio-collared, this policy does not really protect the majority of polar bears.

Oil development and polar bears

Chronic release of contaminants from petroleum exploration, production and support activities has been a problem in existing oil fields on the North Slope. At least one polar bear has died from ingesting a toxic substance. Less toxic forms of pollution will also pose a problem. As more people move to the area to help with oil exploration, they inevitably create garbage. Even if the garbage is carefully monitored, some polar bears, looking for easy food, will move too close to the area and be killed.

The United States and other circumpolar nations are party to the Agreement on Conservation of Polar Bears, which requires appropriate action to protect ecosystems upon which polar bears rely. Development of the coastal plain would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the United States to fully comply with this agreement.

Help NWF save imperiled wildlife in America by symbolically adopting a Polar Bear today.