Scientists stunned to find polar bear group surviving without sea ice offering hope

[at140]

Typically, polar bears range miles out to sea to hunt seals that live on sea ice. But a small population of bears in southeastern Greenland have adapted to life in a slushy area with freshwater ice.

Some polar bears in Greenland have adapted to life without sea ice–which they typically depend on for hunting–raising hopes for the species’ survival in a warming world

Polar Bears Surprise Researchers by Adapting to Life Without Sea Ice
The animals in Greenland shows the species’ resilience as the climate warms, but some scientists warn that polar bears elsewhere might struggle to survive on freshwater ice.

Polar bears have been struggling as the climate warms and Arctic sea ice melts, but scientists have discovered a group of bears in southeastern Greenland that have adapted to life without sea ice by hunting on glacier ice.

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[OnlinePoker]

1. Not surprising

In his 1984 book, Sea of Slaughter, Canadian author and environmentalist Farley Mowat told the story of polar bears ranging all along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence until the fur trade extirpated them. They come ashore in Newfoundland quite often and that is far below the Arctic and much further south than Greenland.

[Cheezoholic]

2. Great book!

I read it while at university. So much of what we are taught about nature is after the fact of our influence on it. The real truth of species prior to major human influence is awe inspiring.