Review of Marine mammals of Svalbard, by K. M. Kovacs, I. Gjertz & C. Lydersen

Abstract

Every year, tourists converge on Svalbard hoping to catch sight of the big marine mammals. But most tourists are not zoologists. For a temporary visitor, it is no easy task to recognize marine mammals. Of course polar bears and walruses are easy to distinguish—and they also top the visitor’s wish list—but tourists also want to see seals and especially whales. These animals seldom “pose” the way polar bears and walruses sometimes do. They may give you no more than a brief glimpse and then leave you wondering: What was that? How big is a seal? What does it eat?