Melting Ice Impacts Polar Bears

High-tech collar worn by adult female polar bear enabled researchers
to study movements and foraging success of bears on the sea ice.
(Photo by Anthony Pagano, USGS)

By Kathryn Brennan

Ever since I was a little girl, polar bears have been my favorite animal. Polar bears no longer look the same as they were when I was little. What’s changing about polar bears is that their lush white fur coat is becoming dull and sagging. Polar bears are now becoming close to skin and bones. Scientists have been looking closely at many species that are endangered and in danger of becoming endangered. The polar bears are one of the many species that scientists have been tracking.

Recently Anthony Pagano, who’s a wildlife biologist researcher, put cameras on some polar bears. The footage from these polar bears is deeply disturbing. It shows the polar bears scavenging for food. Polar bears naturally burn a lot of fat. Burning fat cells and constantly being in motion is causing the polar bears to change drastically. Polar bears seem cute and cuddly from afar but they’re very dangerous. The polar bears are naturally that way because they’re hunters.

When polar bears hunt they’re constantly moving. The movement decreases their energy and ability to survive if they don’t receive the proper nutrients. In most cases while the bears were being tracked there wasn’t much footage of the bears eating many meals. The polar bears never gave up an opportunity to catch a seal or whatever they could for a decent meal, but it was few and far in between. The polar bears began to change their natural strategies to adapt to the lack of food and winter sea ice they had as their habitat.

From the footage, the polar bears appeared to be lazy in contrast to their typical behavior. It all makes sense because if the polar bears don’t receive the proper nutrients they can’t act to their fullest potential. I’m concerned to see what will come from this problem.

With food becoming scarce will the polar bears find new ways to continue to adapt or will they become an extinct species? As the polar bears continue to lose their environment they continue to lose the ability to survive.

For more information: https://news.ucsc.edu/2018/02/polar-bears.html