14 DAY TRIAL // According to wildlife researchers who have taken the time to study them, polar bears can grow to weigh as much as 350–700 kilograms (about 770–1,540 pounds).
Still, the fact that they are incredibly curvaceous does not mean that they are not stunningly graceful creatures, especially when swimming.
The video below made it on the GoPro YouTube channel this past June 21, and it shows a polar bear family going for a swim in the Arctic Ocean.
As detailed in the video, these creatures are not exactly big fans of water sports. However, every once in a while, they have no choice but to plunge in the water and swim around until they find some ice.
This is because, in the absence of sea ice, polar bears can neither hunt nor raise their young. In fact, these animals need ice so badly that sometimes they can cover distances of up to 100 miles (about 161 kilometers) looking for it.
The bad news is that, due to climate change and global warming, the Arctic's sea ice coverage is steadily declining. This means that polar bears are losing their natural habitat and are therefore in danger of going extinct.
Presently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers this species to be a vulnerable one. Conservationists warn that, unless climate change and global warming are limited without delay, it could be only a matter of time until polar bears fall off the biodiversity map.
