14 DAY TRIAL // As you all know by now, the extent of Arctic summer sea-based ice is dwindling with each passing year. The ice shelves are getting smaller as seasons go by and animals that depend on it for their survival, such as polar bears, are heavily affected. This is begging to show in their behavior.
Biologists monitoring the North Pole and the Arctic regions have been drawing attention to this fact for many years, but politicians had better things to do then to listen. As such, the situation has been growing increasingly desperate every year.
An article published recently in the online newspaper The Telegraph reports on sightings made in the Arctic, where polar bears have been spotted swimming and patrolling the ices carrying their cubs on their back.
This is the first time such behaviors are being observed, and evolutionary biologists say that they represent adaptations that this species employs to survive in a changing climate.
As Arctic sea ices melt in the summertime, polar bears need to walk and swim over considerably longer distances than before. Their cubs are simply not equipped to make such journeys, and so they are carried along on their parents' back.
In the past few years, studies have demonstrated that polar bears can travel as much as 350 to 400 miles during the summer, swimming between separate patches of ice on which seals reside. These marine creatures are the polar bears' main food source.
In order for cubs to survive, they need to make it at these primary hunting grounds in one piece, and this cannot be guaranteed if they are left to swim this great distance on their own.
The measurements were taken on polar bears that had been tagged with GPS transmitters. Experts say that another reason why this adaptation has occurred is because polar bears found a way of reducing their cubs' heat loss.
When they travel on their parents' backs, the young bears remain in contact with the polar bears' warm backs, which keeps their bellies warm. Additionally, much of their own backs are kept out of the freezing water, preventing them from losing precious body heat.
Youngsters of the species do not develop layers of insulating fat early on in their lives. During the first few years, they need as much protection from the cold as possible.
“As the Arctic ice continues to melt, it is likely that polar bears are increasingly going to have to swim longer distances,” the article quotes the WWF polar bear coordinator, Geoff York, as saying.
“Data from tagged bears near Alaska has indicated swims of 350-400 miles in the past four years and if polar bear cubs are forced to cover these distances, then it is vital for them to behave in a way that minimizes heat loss,” he adds.
“This reported behavior, and anything else that helps cub survival in those circumstances, is good news,” he concludes.