The dangers of climate change to Arctic mammals, such as polar bears and seals, have been studied and publicized widely. Sea birds seem to have received less attention. For one species, the ivory gull, the reason may be the sheer inaccessibility to its habitat — sea ice and the high cliffs of nunataks (hills or mountains completely surrounded by glacial ice) inland.  

The medium-sized gull gets its name from its pure white adult plumage. Small, scattered colonies are found in Arctic Canada, Greenland, Svalbard (an archipelago in the northernmost part of Norway), and the northern islands of Russia in the Barents and Kara seas. Recently, the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna  (CAFF), a biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, published the International Ivory Gull Conservation Strategy and Action Plan

The current global population of the sea bird is estimated to be approximately 6,325-11,500 breeding pairs. About 86 percent of the global population lives in colonies in Arctic Russia. The birds have simple but restrictive habitat needs that confine them to the high Arctic. They must nest close to the ocean because they forage the ice-filled waters during incubation and chick-rearing periods. They also require breeding sites that are safe from land-based predators

 The reduction in the extent of the summer sea ice cover along with a reduction in older, thicker ice can be expected to have an impact on the gulls’ survival. Human activities in the Arctic, including gold mining, diamond exploration, oil drilling, and tourism, pose threats to the gulls’ habitat. The CAFF plan calls for international, national, and regional monitoring programs.  

Another threat to the bird was reported in an article from Reuters News Service in September: Gull Sets Arctic Pollution Record for Birds .Eggs of the ivory gull were found to have the highest known concentrations of PCBs, once used in products such as paints and plastics, and the pesticide DDT.  

Long-lasting chemicals are swept north by prevailing winds and currents from industrial centers and often end in the Arctic where they are found in the fatty tissue of animals The ivory gulls eat cod and other fatty fish and also scavenge dead seals or polar bears.

A 2001 UN convention outlawed most uses of 12 organic pollutants that do not break down over time, such as PCBs and DDT, after the chemicals were found in the breast milk of Inuit women and in polar bears.