Living in the Cold: Arctic Adaptations

Click here for the Daily Expedition Report for June 25, 2016

Location: Kapp Lee & Diskobukta, Edgeøya
Highlight of the Day: Standing closer to a walrus than I have ever been (and I don't think I want to get any closer)
What I Learned:

• Fish are the same temperature as the water
• Endotherms are warm-blooded and Ectotherms are cold-blooded
• If snow falls on an walrus, the snow does not melt- the blubber is that good of an insulator
• Only female polar bears hibernate for the winter
• Svalbard reindeer literally don't move over winter
• Growth stops in winter- there is no growth below -20 degrees Celsius

It amazes me how animals have adapted to survive the Arctic winters.

In the Svalbard, endotherms keep warm while ectotherms live in the cold. If you live in the Arctic, you need blubber (Polar bears have 4" of blubber), feathers or fur. As a Svalbard animal, you can deal with the cold in one of two ways:
1) migrate (birds, seals, whales)
2) stay (reindeer, fox, polar bears)

Svalbard reindeer don't just stay- they don't move. They will move only 500 yards in the course of the whole winter. So, they literally just stand for 4 months to conserve their energy.

It is harder to keep warm if you are small. According to Bergmann's Rule, species with extensive ranges are larger towards the pole.

Many tiny invertebrates dry out or vitrify over winter and will contain zero water content. There are the most resilient organisms we know. Through vitrification, they enter into a glass-like state. Polar fish don't freeze because they make a protein that works like an anti-freeze.

Many insects are tolerant of their body liquids actually freezing- not the actual cells (because then they would die), but solely the liquids within them.

Svalbard plants (yes, there is flora in the Arctic) lay dormant under the snow. Lichen actually dehydrates itself in the wintertime.

Humans- well, if only we could vitrify. In the meantime, thank goodness for Canada Goose jackets.