Scientists were amazed when they accumulated over 115 hours of footage from the day-to-day life of a polar bear. While scientists already know a lot about this marine mammal, little is known about how they are currently adapting. Now, scientists have had an inside look at the secret life of polar bears.
Polar Bears And Their Changing Environment
Sometimes, it is hard for people to imagine what this massive marine mammal does in its spare time. After all, most times that we encounter a polar bear it is at the zoo. Where that animal's time is structured and controlled by humans. What is the secret life of polar bears in the wild like? Scientists have wanted to study the bears for a long time, especially given how they have been affected by climate change and the rapidly melting sea ice.
Polar bears do not only use the sea ice to get around themselves but their main prey, seals, are typically found there as well. With less and less ice that means that polar bears are forced to spend more time on land, resulting in dramatic weight loss and poor conditions. The LadBible shares that they are now considered a vulnerable species according to the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group. Perhaps learning more about this creature's day-to-day activities could help us better understand how to help them.
The Secret Life Of Polar Bears: How Do They Navigate These Changes
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The scientists wanted to understand how polar bears are navigating the complex changes to their environment. LadBible shared that some brave souls went out into the arctic and "Strapped cameras to 20 of them who were wandering around Hudson Bay." How were these bears handling the climate changes? By sleeping, hunting and having some good old fashioned fun. The secret life of polar bears footage showed them "feeding on bird carcasses, chowing down on berries and grass, and feasting on marine animals." Additionally, it also captured them play fighting with one another.
Wildlife biologist at the US Geological Survey (USGS), Anthony Pagano, told Vox about the video footage. He shared that the group were truly amazed by the footage they captured.
"The video footage really highlighted how intelligent these animals are by using different behavior strategies to survive their time on land while without access to their primary prey," he stated.
Before conducting this study, many scientists had assumptions about how the polar bears would handle the changes to their climate. They assumed they would be resting more to conserve their energy. Or perhaps snacking on some sea birds. The footage showed that they did both of those activities. Although their hypotheses were correct, their joy was short lived. In observing the secret life of polar bears, the scientists noticed that regardless of the approach they took, all of the bears in the study lost weight. Additionally, they noticed that the bears were swimming much farther and longer in search of food. Being starving will make anyone more desperate and willing to take risks. Berries and sea birds are just not enough to sustain this marine mammal.
How To Help This Marine Mammal
While the polar bears may look adorable in some of the footage, this footage also shines a light on a daunting truth. Polar bears are suffering and their numbers are dwindling. Unless we are able to do something about their rapidly changing environment, I fear that the secret life of polars will end up being just a bed time story. If you want to help the polar bears here are some things you can do.
- Get informed
- Share what you learn
- Join awareness events
