SCIENTISTS WERE ALARMED BY WHAT THEY DISCOVERED AFTER ATTACHING A GOPRO TO A HERD OF POLAR BEARS
After beginning an experiment in which they fitted cameras to polar bears, scientists were completely shocked by what they discovered. Polar bears are suffering from climate change, as we all know, and the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group has officially classified them as a "vulnerable" species on the endangerment scale. Unfortunately, their ability to hunt and climb out of the sea depends on the ice melting in their home region, brought on by global warming.
Now that climate change is slowly lowering the number of weeks per year the Arctic is covered in ice, polar bears are spending more time than ever on land, where high-calorie food is scarce. With that, scientists attached cameras to 20 polar bears in Hudson Bay, Canada, to find out what is happening with the bears and how they are coping with this change.
What did scientists find from the video?
Research in the journal Nature Communications found that the ice-free period in this region had increased by three weeks since 1979. Three years and more than 115 hours of video were recorded, providing the audience with a unique look into a polar bear's life from its perspective. The polar bears are shown in the videos consuming bird corpses, berries, grass, and marine life. They are also shown playing fights in the water and gnawing on antlers.
The study's leader, Anthony Pagano, a wildlife scientist with the US Geological Survey (USGS), told Vox of their findings: "The video footage astounded us.”The video footage really highlighted how intelligent these animals are by using different behaviour strategies to survive their time on land while without access to their primary prey."
What impact are the findings expected to have?
Researchers hypothesised that polar bears may adapt to spending more time on shore by either resting to conserve energy or consuming more plants and seabirds. It turns out that they used both, based on the video as well as additional information gathered by the experts, including movement measures and energy burned.
Despite the polar bears' differing methods, neither was effective, and all but one of the 20 participants lost weight. One even shed about 80 pounds, which the researchers found extremely concerning. According to Andrew Derocher, a polar expert at the University of Alberta, the polar bears were also found to be swimming for longer periods of time, which is "unusual for this time of year."
Derocher further explained: "These are possibly acts of desperation. Hungry and skinny bears take more risks than fat bears. “This study really brings home the message that there’s no salvation from terrestrial feeding to help polar bears through the ice-free period,” he stated, referencing that eating berries and smaller prey isn't helping them in the long term.
According to this study, the polar bear population in this region has decreased by 30% since 1987, and additional global warming would make it even more difficult for the species to thrive. The species has been observed hunting year-round in parts of Greenland and Svalbard using ice that breaks off glaciers, but this is not considered as good news but rather as a last-ditch effort to survive.
How can it be stopped?
It's improbable that we can save all of the polar bears without taking dramatic actions, whether we all work to reverse the impacts of global warming or relocate them to an area like the North Pole that is consistently frigid. Much work needs to be done to secure their protection, according to Polar Bears International, a charity.
According to the website, "We need all alternatives on the table and all hands on deck when it comes to global climate change and a future for polar bears," as scientist Katharine Hayhoe puts it.
“The key to saving sea ice for polar bears and getting the climate back to functioning the way it should is to get away from using fossil fuels for energy altogether.”