Even though they’re excellent swimmers, polar bears need solid ground to hunt for food. Their ground of choice? Arctic sea ice! By prowling on the frozen ocean ice, polar bears can hunt for seals and other marine life. Sea ice has historically covered all of the Arctic Ocean for most of the year. But it’s rapidly melting and decreasing in area, which means polar bears have less space—and time—to hunt.
That’s why scientists were startled when they found a potentially new subpopulation of polar bears in southeast Greenland. Polar bears need stable sea ice for about six months to ensure they get enough food before hunkering down for the winter. But these bears were surviving with as little as three months of sea ice! When the government of Greenland commissioned a study on the polar bears, Inuit hunters drew maps to help researchers find the elusive group.
