Wildlife of the Arctic
The Arctic is vast, barren and freezing for most of the year. Remarkably a large variety of wildlife thrives here, and much of it is very visible.
The seas, especially in coastal waters and around island archipelagos, are very rich, with whales, walrus, dolphins, seals and Polar bears (Ursus Maritimus) all abundant and mostly (apart from the bears) recovering well from persecution.
The land too can be surprisingly lively, with caribou, musk ox, wolves, bears, moose, foxes, hares and, wolverine and many more all managing to exist in the frozen north.
Birdlife is prolific and dominated by sea birds who use some of the enormous sea cliffs to roost. Many birds that winter further south spend their summers in the High Arctic so there is much to see.
Explore run a series of Arctic Cruises and Spitzbergen Polar Bear watching holidays.
Recent Arctic news
- Geese flocking to Scotland in record numbers
- Growing extinction risk for Arctic wildlife
- Polar bears and glaucous gulls most at risk from pollution
- Hungry polar bears a threat to conservation success story
- Tracking a Humpback whale across the Atlantic Ocean
- Russia to create new national parks and reserves the size of Switzerland
- Polar bears threaten endangered Barnacle geese
- Questions raised over Greenland’s ‘subsistence’ whaling as supermarkets and hotels fuel demand
- Polar region is shrinking – It's official
- Killer whales are probably several different species
- High Arctic species in worrying decline
- Polar bear species just 150,000 years old
- Animal kingdoms longest known migration revealed.
- Place your bets on endangered species
- Unsung wildlife threatened by climate change
More Arctic news
- Canada takes steps to protect north in face of global warming
- Arctic to be ice free in summer – Consequences for polar bears
- Cook Inlet beluga population in steady decline
- 131 walrus calves trampled to death in Alaska
- Alaskan congressman wants to change rules to allow polar bear trophy imports
- Pacific Brant geese wintering in Alaska as the sea warms
- Dramatic biological responses to global warming in the Arctic
- Oil installations in Arctic are bad for birds, good for predators
- New technology provides automatic whale detection system for ships
- Denmark requests a quota of 50 Humpback whales for ‘subsistence whaling’
- Seal hunt in Canada to close some 200,000 short of target
- Dramatic worldwide decline in caribou/reindeer numbers
- Russia bans hunt for all harp seals under one year of age
- Polar bear poaching in Russia down – But climate change threatening their existence
- Conservation plans for Greenland white-fronted goose after populations drop by 30% in 10 years
Polar bears on SpitzbergenRelated News Articles
Killer whales are probably several different species
Photographing and spotting Polar Bears around SpitzbergenFly to Spitzbergen and join an expedition cruise to see these fantastic beasts, as well as much more.
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THE WILDLIFE OF BAFFIN ISLAND, LANCASTER SOUND AND THE HIGH ARCTIC.Read the full article.
