Nine Polar Bears Make Risky, Open-Ocean Swims In One Day

Nine polar bears were observed in one day swimming in open ocean off Alaska's northwest coast, an increase from previous surveys that may indicate warming conditions are forcing bears to make riskier, long-distance swims to stable sea ice or land.

The bears were spotted in the Chukchi Sea on a flight by a federal marine contractor, Science Applications International Corp.

It was hired for the Minerals Management Service in advance of future offshore oil development. The MMS in February leased 2.76 million acres within an offshore area slightly smaller than Pennsylvania.

Observers Saturday were looking for whales but also recorded walrus and polar bears, said project director Janet Clark. Many were swimming north and ranged from 15 to 65 miles off shore, she said.

Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in May declared polar bears a threatened species because of an alarming loss of summer sea ice and forecasts the trend will continue.

Polar bears spend most of their lives on sea ice, which they use as a platform to hunt their primary prey, ringed seals. Shallow water over the continental shelf is the most biologically productive for seals, but pack ice in recent years has receded far beyond the shelf.

Conservation groups fear that one consequence of less ice will be more energy-sapping, long-distance swims by polar bears trying to reach feeding, mating or denning areas.

Steven Amstrup, senior polar bear scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage, said the bears could have been on a patch of ice that broke up northwest of Alaska's coast.

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"The bears that had been on that last bit of ice that remained over shallow shelf waters, are now swimming either toward land or toward the rest of the sea ice, which is a considerable distance north," he said in an e-mail response to questions.

It probably is not a big deal for a polar bear in good condition to swim 10 or 15 miles, Amstrup said, but swims of 50 to 100 miles could be exhausting.

"We have some observations of bears swimming into shore when the sea ice was not visible on the horizon," he said. "In some of these cases, the bears arrive so spent energetically, that they literally don't move for a couple days after hitting shore."

Only further research can tell the effect of greater swimming distances on polar bear populations, he said.

"Polar bears can swim quite well, but they are not aquatic animals," he said. "Their home is on the surface of the ice."

Satellite data Saturday showed the main body of pack ice about 400 miles offshore with one ribbon about 100 miles off Alaska's coast, said Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Clark said the animals' origin and destination could not be known without radio collar monitoring.

"To go out there and say they were going from this point to this point would be complete speculation," Clark said.

Observers have no indication of the fate of the nine polar bears observed Saturday.

Comments

[fcsakes]

Reading about these bears enrages me and makes me sick.

And when they die is there some way we can fly their bodies to the bush and cheney residences and deposit them right on their front doors (perhaps after the bears have been dead for several days)?

[TellingTruth2Kooks]

If Polar bears are so susceptable to a Hotter climate, how come they haven't already gone extinct since there are at least 5 epochs when the Earth was Much warmer than what it is now?

[crazylikeafox]

Pray tell what epochs are you referring to?

[NL207]

Let's start with the Eemian, 115-130,000 years ago.

referring to this figure: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pubs/jouzel2007/fig2.jpg

The Eemian was warmer than today by as much as 5.0 degrees K for a period of at least 12,000 years. (1) Ice cores drilled in Greenland show that the ice cover did not vanish in Greenland and (2) Fossil evidence shows that Polar Bears both existed at that time and survived.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_10097405 -- ice core record in Greenland
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/7132220.stm Polar bear fossil from the Eemian

[danoj]

He's prolly referring to time periods when earth was a much warmer place than it is right now. The problem with the global warming arguement is not all of the facts are in on the subject, and there are bunch of nuts who say case closed it's happening.

[SignWave]

Most likely because there were a few spots that remained cold enough. They probably won't be so lucky this time.

So...are you saying that you *don't* think polar bears are in danger as a species? Wow. The human capacity for cognitive dissonance never ceases to amaze me.

[NL207]

And why would they not survive again if they previously had survived the Eemian? It was 5 degrees C warmer then than it is now. I was also 1 degree C warmer 5-7,000 yearas ago then it is now and the bears survived that too.

There is no doubt the Polar Bear will survive the present warming provided man does not hunt them into extinction, which we can prohibit. Your argument is illogical. You must concede this point or look a complete fool.

[WatchIt]

Look, they are proud of their callousness, proud of their progress to making their millions, and proud of thinking at the top of the heap. However, due to their ignorance, the heap has flaws. The heap being the crippled ecosystem that is crumbling as we write.

[danoj]

I am right there with you if you think Global Warming is a made up scam for the Al Gores of the world to get rich off of, but Polar Bears are very suseptable to hotter climate and will overheat quickly.

[TimmySlagle]

"Polar Bears are very suseptable to hotter climate"

Really?

Tell this guys:

http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/photo-of-polar-bear-underwater-2925-pictures.htm

[Furby]

If ignorance wasn't the source of the problem, your comment would not be worthy of a response. If you doubt the impact of global warming, why don't you ask the good folks in Florida, California or Louisianna if they think it's a hoax. And while you're informing yourself, why don't you rent out "11th Hour" then see how well you sleep at night. Here in Canada, for the first time in my life I'm seeing healthy palm trees growing in urban areas on our west coast, we're seeing tornadoes in the prairies and Ontario the likes of which I've only ever seen in the American mid-west until now. We don't need to believe scientists, although we do. We're seeing it happen right before our eyes.

[twgbonehead]

And during how many of those epochs did polar bears exist? (or humans, for that matter)?

[danoj]

they believe although it has not been proven that humans did exist during several and, at one point may the human population may have shrunk to as little as 30 breeding pair.

[mamacat]

When climate change takes place gradually, there is at least a chance for adaptation and evolution. When climate change takes place practically over-night, the chance for evolutionary adaptations approaches nil. The problem with the current trend of man-made climate change (an overall warming in most places on Earth, and especially near the poles), is that changes that would normally take place gradually are now taking place in decades. There are several forces involved in the current species extinction phenomenon - land being taken over directly for human use, thus resulting in a loss of habitat, over hunting and fishing, thus taking specimens directly out of the environment, and loss of suitable habitat due to rapid climate change, and the inability of species to adapt before they die out.

[crazylikeafox]

What is up with Huffington Post?????!!!!!!! I am trying to post comments with scientific facts about what is happening because of global warming and they won't post them!!!!!!!!!!

[LiberalBuzz]

God only knows why they do this but trolls have unfettered access to this place and never have their comments moderated or removed.

Hmmmmm.

[WatchIt]

Yep. They can spew, but we have to watch Ps and Qs. Reason? I think that HuffPost likes conflict but they don't like dissent. So they like to see the trolls vs. the educated, but they don't like educated opinions that are contrary to HuffPost rules of conduct. I must say, I thought that Slagle would go before someone like me, but I guess I am wrong.

[crazylikeafox]

Unless you're 80+ you are going to see it and it is already happening. The average temperature in Anchorage has increased 3.9 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century. About two million acres of spruce forests were infested in Alaska between 1920 and 1990 by spruce bark beetle. Three million acres were infested during the 1990s alone, and the epidemic reached its peak of one million in 1996. The hardest hit was the Kenai Peninsula, where nearly 70 to 80 percent of the trees have been killed. From 1987 to 1997 there were spruce bark beetle outbreaks for 11 consecutive summers, which effectively destroyed the majority of spruce trees on the Kenai Peninsula that were 60 years or older.

I saw this. It is astounding. And it's just one thing that's happening because of global warming.

[NL207]

So? Things like this have only been occurring on this planet since the beginning of the Paleozoic. There are far more extinct species than there are species living today. Change is the NORM. These beetles must have done the same during the Medieval Warm Period if warmth is indeed the cause of this. Yet the trees came back.

This paper : http://www.bio.vu.nl/thb/course/tb/exam/exam/node33.html
suggests there are 23 extinct vertebrate species for every one that exists today.

There is at present no scientific reason to believe there will not be another ice age as there have been about every 100,000 over the last 2 million years. I personally reject the notion that the present deserves the name 'Holocene'. I do not think we have yet left the Pleistocene behind. The same mechanisms that ended the Eemian interglacial optimum are likely still in operation and will also end this one. The only question in my mind is when. Science is still not able to tell us that yet nor is science able to say that anthropogenic CO2 releases will avert the next ice age, so raising alarms about a coming ice age is just silly.

[twgbonehead]

Slow change is the norm. Rapid change has occurred several times in the past (LBH), and each instance has been accompanied with a drastic die-out of species on the planet, and a total reformulation of the earth's populations.

What's the most fragile large population on this planet at the moment? It's the one that relies so heavily on weather patterns remaining the same (so that farmland stays farmland, and ports continue to be ports).

There were some things that happened between 1940 and 1945 that I would work strenuously to prevent the repetition of. Just because it happened in the past doesn't mean we should rejoice that it's happening again, or throw our hands up at the possibility of preventing it.

[realpolitic]

"The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) is a native insect of the pine forests of western North America, and its populations periodically erupt into large-scale outbreaks. During outbreaks, the resulting widespread tree mortality reduces forest carbon uptake and increases future emissions from the decay of killed trees. The current outbreak in British Columbia, Canada, is an order of magnitude larger in area and severity than all previous recorded outbreaks4 This impact converted the forest from a small net carbon sink to a large net carbon source both during and immediately after the outbreak....

Climate change has contributed to the unprecedented extent and severity of this outbreak6. Insect outbreaks such as this represent an important mechanism by which climate change may undermine the ability of northern forests to take up and store atmospheric carbon, and such impacts should be accounted for in large-scale modelling analyses.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v452/n7190/full/nature06777.html

[huffposeur]

you know what else is astounding? there used to be a landbridge between asia and alaska until cavemen and their SUVs CO2'd it out of existence

[Clem2]

I just can't stand reading what is happening to the polar bears. It is so pathetic. They are so doomed.

and people don't see that it's just a matter of time til it happens to us. It IS happening to us already, those who live in low-lying islands. Global warming is real and devastating and nobody is doing a darn thing bout it.

I am glad I won't be here to see what devastation and diseases it brings. I'll be long gone.

[crazylikeafox]

Unless you're 80+ you are going to see it and it is already happening.

The average temperature in Anchorage has increased 3.9 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century. About two million acres of spruce forests were infested in Alaska between 1920 and 1990 by spruce bark beetle. Three million acres were infested during the 1990s alone, and the epidemic reached its peak of one million in 1996. The hardest hit was the Kenai Peninsula, where nearly 70 to 80 percent of the trees have been killed. From 1987 to 1997 there were spruce bark beetle outbreaks for 11 consecutive summers, which effectively destroyed the majority of spruce trees on the Kenai Peninsula that were 60 years or older.

I saw this. It is astounding. And it's just one thing that's happening because of global warming.

[danoj]

You have zero proof to the claim global warming is to blame for natural disaster.

[crazylikeafox]

U.S. Forest Service
Because elevated temperatures potentially influence the number of generations of these species reproducing in a single year, similar outbreaks could occur again as precipitation and temperature patterns continue to shift. We have database models to describe and project the effect of temperature, but not other climate variables, on life-cycle timing of the mountain pine beetle and spruce beetle (D. rufipennis Kirby). For both species, the influence of elevated temperatures on outbreak dynamics is most notable at higher elevations and latitudes where some beetles have shifted to completing their development in a single year (univoltine) rather than 2 or even 3 years. Assuming other inputs to the system remain constant, this decrease in generation time translates to a doubling in the rate of population growth.

[crazylikeafox]

Where do you live?

[Furby]

There is a mountain of proof, you're just too lazy to look it up. Just type global warming and pick any institute, university, country, government, any one of them. They ALL agree. 1,500 or so scientists got together at a conference on global warming and not one iota of evidence to the contrary (ie. that global warming was not occurring ) was produced. In addition all evidence pointed to human activity as the cause. You're telling me 1500 scientists are wrong and you're right. There is nothing anyone can do to combat that level of ignorance.

[levi501]

After chatting for a while on this post I have learned a few things.

First, polar bears are shrinking in physical size and population. Second, environmentalists are passionate about their movement and aren't defined by politicians (except Green Party candidates).

The overarching issue that I don't see resolved is a solution to the problems. What can I do to keep polar bears from having to swim too far? Also, how can environmentalists get better spokespeople than the ones thrown on them by the media?

Thanks for the insight!

[Nyland8]

There's nothing more reassuring about the conservationists than knowing that they're out there drowning polar bears with prop-wash induced waves from helicopter rotors.

8

[enlighteninglad]

There's no caption for the picture but according to the article, if this picture was taken by the people referred to, then they were hires by the oil company, not any conservation group.

Since it takes a long time to really screw Mother Nature you can make all the ridculous comments you want and people like you will be around to pat you on the shoulder, until they aren't because of the consequences of your attitude. But not to worry. It'll always be the "libruls" fault.

[twgbonehead]

From really really early on, in the above summary:

"The bears were spotted in the Chukchi Sea on a flight by a federal marine contractor, Science Applications International Corp.

It was hired for the Minerals Management Service in advance of future offshore oil development. "

/8

[realpolitic]

Yes, another reason they may have survived thousands of years ago and may not now. Nl, what do you have against the bears? Don't forget the caribou are in trouble, as well, and the wolverines, the artic loon, and the artic cod.

[rwe]

again, The earth is not fragile , is in a constant state of change (even the global warmers changed their mantra to climate change) Cyclical climate fluctuations have occurred over 10s of thousands of years. The Sun is a major influence. Remember the Plar bears on the ice that turned out to be manufactured photo ops by the globalphobiacs? It is still the height of arrogance to think that mankind can influence ... we can't predict weather 5 days . we knee jerk everything from hurricane counts to bridge collapses..... plant life has more to do with climate change than man .

[AmandaBC]

BS argument. Try to explain why atmospheric Co2 grew more in the last 50 years than in the preceding 6 billion years...

http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm

http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/activities/AcceleratingAtmosphericCO2.htm

[danoj]

hate to break it to ya but Earth hasn't been around for 6 billion years, and 4.5 billionyears ago, when the Earth was new, Co2 methane and nitrogen made up the atmosphere.

[crazylikeafox]

Why do people deny global warming? Are they paid to do it? Are they followers of global warming deniers? (Rush, Hannity, Sensenbrenner (R-WI), ExxonMobil, Chevron) Are they unable to follow scientific papers that present the evidence? Whatever it is their very uneducated comments say a lot about them.

[levi501]

It's not denying global warming. Instead, it's denying government control over our lives because a few bears are swimming a few extra miles...

Also, did you notice those environmentalists using an oil powered helicopter to harass those bears. They even want to put a collar on the bears.

[rwe]

globalphobia is next to Obamamania as an issue that is driven by emotion and little substance..... John Coleman the founder of the weather channel has challenged the oscar / nobel peace prize winner to a debate... No one from the sci fi group will do so.

[NL207]

'deny' Global warming? None of these people deny the earth has warmed since 1700 AD. What they do reject is the notion that man is the dominant cause of such change.

A better question is why you believe these outrageous doomsday predictions being made by a very small number of scaremongers with a science diploma and a government grant?

[tabatha]

near as i can gather, a large percentage of people who deny global warming do so for some pretty twisted and whacko reasons

i think their twisted and false reasoning goes something like this: if we acknowledge that global warming is occurring, then we (they're mainly in the US) would have to take some steps to try to stop it

and if we take steps to try to stop it, this might mean that we (the US) would have to either limit our economic growth, and/or we would have to participate in international organizations or cooperate with other nations toward this common goal of trying to stop global warming

in their twisted minds, global warming deniers seem to interpret this as meaning the US, and they, themselves, personally, would be castrated; they would lose some of their autonomy and have to give up some of their freedoms (such as the freedom to drive a huge gas guzzling SUV at top speeds along a highway)

i can always remember driving through some parts of rural Oregon (yes, Oregon, of all places) and noticing these huge billboards saying: 'stop world government'

these idiots, whoever they are, apparently believe the US' participation in any international governmental organizations, such as the UN, for example, is harmful to them and to the country

iglobal warming denial ties into this crazy thinking

they seem to think it's some kind of communist plot to stop capitalism

they are truly twisted and ignorant and stupid

[preemptivelove]

get your facts straight. it was the global warming DOUBTERS and right wingers who changed the talking point to "climate change". just ask frank luntz or whatever his name is.

[reigndog]

That's a pretty big canary, folks.

[WilliePilgrim]

I'm very concerned about this species of bears as well. Think about how at one time, not too long ago really, their populations used to feed on prey from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Straits of Gibraltar but have been reduced to just the areas where men in boats can't profitably harvest the abundance that used to be so common and natural in the North Atlantic...so much so that we associate the bear with ice even though its latin name reveals it's habitat is in the nutrient rich cold upwelling ocean waters, swimming from shoal to rookery to haul-out.
Perhaps with the reduction in ice, more solar energy will fuel a proliferation of plankton which feed the fish which will in-turn feed the rest of animals upon which the polar bear depends and maybe we'll begin to re-establish the now depleted coastal marine ecostystems of the Northeast America and Europe.
Of course a few individuals in the polar bear population may suffer from this dislocation but in the end nature will be strengthened if we only allow it to operate without damaging it as we have. Luckily we at least are releasing more CO2 which is the #1 food upon which plants depend and upon which so many other species depend. The change is constant, the rate is variable.

[levi501]

Good post. You seem to understand that pollution is not good. Yet the Earth is bigger than humans and change is not predictable. Your compassion is evident too.

Good job and good luck when the environmentalists respond...

[AmandaBC]

"good luck when the environmentalists respond"

The environmentalists are those who are documented and provide links. Unlike you...

[levi501]

Nine bears swimming in open water doesn't prove anything. The writer does state that the bears can swim a long way, it's just not common.

The globe may be warming and it may be caused by humans but it's foolish to use these stories to prove an argument.

The problem environmentalist movement has is that they equate human life to the rest of life on the planet. Environmentalists devalue human life and think we should lower our standard of living. All the while the leaders in the movement live in mansions, fly in private planes, and drive in big SUV's.

If it's so critical why isn't Gore walking everywhere he goes? Why should I have to drive a Prius and live in cold apartment?

I'll do it when I see Gore do it!

[AmandaBC]

"Nine bears swimming in open water doesn't prove anything."

It's a CONFIRMATION of previous findings:

"SCIENTISTS have for the first time found evidence that polar bears are drowning because climate change is melting the Arctic ice shelf.
The researchers were startled to find bears having to swim up to 60 miles across open sea to find food. They are being forced into the long voyages because the ice floes from which they feed are melting, becoming smaller and drifting farther apart."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article767459.ece

[levi501]

Okay, bears are suffering.

If you read my post you'll see that my main point is the fact that the environmentalist movement has hypocrites for leaders. All over Huffpost people ridicule McCain for having multiple homes but never see the same issues with liberals or Democrats.

[imfedup]

Why doesn't he walk everywhere he goes? That is hilarious.

[levi501]

If cars and energy are the problem shouldn't we all stop typing on this blog. While I'm typing I have processed food warming in the microwave, my radio on, and later today I'm taking my SUV to movie...

I guess I should read by candle light...

[enlighteninglad]

Gore makes Nashville home more 'green' - CNN.com Gore is doing it. Look it up if the link doesn't work. Worth the read although I'm sure you'll say it isn't nearly enough.

[WoodyW]

I want to ask those who don't "believe in" global warming to consider whose belief or lack has the most potential for harm. Jared Diamond's books and essays, particularly his work on the history of Easter Island deal with the question of how humans can be so blinded by mistrust, fear, and greed that they can decimate the environment on which they depend. He wonders what the men who cut down the final giant palm were thinking. The argument of whether climate change exists or not belongs to supporters of the flat earth society, but the question of whether it's natural and cyclical or whether it's brought on or accelerated by humans is rather like the question of what caused the Titanic to sink. First, we need to stop the damage. We can figure out blame (if we must) later. We all have common hopes, dreams, and goals. A knee-jerk negative reaction to each other that prevents communication is what will finally kill us - polar bears, inhabitants of low lying islands, and all.

[NoSillyName]

I won't join in the snark fest here, so I'll just say... these kinds of stories make me very sad. I try not to read them, but when I do, I'm sorry I did.

POOR POLAR BEARS. Geez, harrassing them with helicopters isn't gonna help them at all. Idiots!

[rollingdivision]

This is such made up junk.

[Joeblue]

Must be since you said it rollingturd.

[realpolitic]

Where have you been, rolling fascist?

[TimmySlagle]

"The polar bear population on Alaska's coast has doubled since the '70s, thanks largely to a hunting ban.

Researchers say they have never seen such big and healthy animals. That may be because at the other end of the food chain, plankton are thriving in warmer waters."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1324416.stm

[AmandaBC]

"Polar Bear Population Predicted To Dwindle WIth Retreating Ice"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070907224237.htm

[levi501]

TimmySlagle post is factual based on actual data.

AmandaBC post is a prediction.

Score one for TimmySlagle...

[realpolitic]

Slagle likes to make an argument where he finds the lowest spot in a trend, then claim a large reversal from it. He claims we should be happy that Artic sea ice extent is 10% greater than last year, although last year was the lowest recorded ice extent ever. From Slagle's polar bear article,

"Once hunted almost to extinction, this population is now increasing by up to 3% a year. Retreating pack ice may also be helping them.......If the current warming trend does take hold, the comeback being made by animals in Alaska could soon be reversed. "

If Slagle would pay attention to the whole article, except for denial claptrap he may learn something. According to another study:

"Scientists and managers from the fi ve Arctic nations with polar bears unanimously agreed to a status report that concluded that of the 13 populations within Canada, or shared with Greenland, two were severely depleted from previous overharvesting and were being managed for recovery, fi ve were declining, and the rest were recorded as stable, except for one which was reported as increasing based on a computer projection model using extrapolated demographic data.

http://pbsg.npolar.no/docs/StirlingDerocher-WildProf-2007.pdf