Polar bears, seven pinniped species and five cetacean species reside full-time in the Barents Sea region. Eight additional whale species are regular seasonal migrants that come into the Barents Sea to take advantage of the seasonal, summer-time peak in productivity as the ice retreats northward. Three additional dolphin species are occasionally observed in the southern Barents Sea (Table 2.2) and ...

Operational discharge

The day-to-day impacts of shipping on the environment are caused by ordinary operational discharges and of organotin compounds from anti-fouling systems. To protect ships against corrosion, zinc anodes are used in addition to special paint. If zinc anodes are used in ballast tanks, the zinc content in the water discharged may exceed the tolerance limits of fish eggs and larvae...

Seabirds spend most of the year at sea, visit land only to breed and find all their food in the marine environment (Schreiber and Burger, 2002). Seabirds are characterized by long life (10-40 years), deferred maturity (breeding age delayed up to five years of age, small clutch size (in many cases one egg) and extended chick rearing periods (sometimes up to several months; Schreiber and Burger, 200...

Tourism

The arctic environment is vulnerable and like many other human activities, tourism can have a wide range of impacts on the environment like pollution (oil, air, garbage, wastewater, ballast water), wildlife disturbance, and degradation of vegetation and historical and geological sites. Cruise-ship tourism is particularly intense in Svalbard, and to a lesser extent in Franz Josef Land in a ...