Walrus population ecology & impacts of human visitation
The principle objectives of this programme are to determine the current abundance of walruses in Svalbard, to identify critical habitat for this species in this region and to assess potential impacts of human visitation on walruses.
The research programme will also provide information on diving, foraging and haul-out behaviour via the deployment of satellite tags, which will also permit the development of correction factors for the survey.
Additional project elements will also permit the assessment of the pollution load and general health status in these animals. Satellite tags were deployed in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and a survey was flown in 2006.
Analyses are ongoing on many project components. In 2007, we will turn our attention to assessing impacts of human visitation at haul-out sites.
This NPI programme is financially assisted by the Norwegian Research Council (MARE) and the Governor of Svalbard.
Prosjektledere: Drs. Christian Lydersen & Kit M. Kovacs