Rolling on the Tundra: A Polar Bear Adventure

Question from Hannah, Grace, Mason, and Murry:

Why are polar bears seen on ice floes?

From the scientists on Buggy One:

Sea ice is the breeding and hunting platform of polar bears. Ice floes are one form of sea ice.

Question from Priya, Allie, and Noah:

If climate change and warming occur would every single polar bear die?

From the scientists on Buggy One:

No, probably not, but they would probably be restricted to a very small population in the Canadian High Arctic. It is up to all of to take action locally to reduce our carbon footprints so that polar bears and other animals around the earth can keep their habitats, stay healthy, and maintain their populations

Question from Julia, Clay, Andrew, and Alex:

Where do people who live in a polar bear area put their trash so that polar bears will not get into it?

From the scientists on Buggy One:

Trash in bear habitat needs to be put in secure, steel cans to prevent bears from accessing it because bears that get used to human trash and eating it usually end up being problem bears…and often are killed because of that.

The Tundra Buggy Lodge bags their trash and sends it back to Churchill where it is separated from recycling materials. It is then shipped to Winnipeg for proper disposal or recycling.

We have read that certain groups are allowed to hunt polar bears. Is this a problem and how does this affect conservation efforts?

From the scientists on Buggy One:

That is correct, some groups have been allowed to hunt polar bears, especially in Canada where the populations have been stable until global warming reduced local populations. Polar bears (especially males) are a renewable resource if they have large enough populations to support an annual harvest. Several nations have hunting restrictions already, and legal hunting has not affected conservation efforts so far, but poaching (illegal hunting) in small populations will definitely cause conservation problems.

How do the behaviors of polar bears in Hudson Bay compare to bears elsewhere in the world and could this information be used to design conservation strategies if the ice disappeared in other locations?

From the scientists on Buggy One:

Hudson Bay polar bears are the only population who regularly spend their summers on shore. Most of the world’s polar bears spend their entire lives on the sea ice. As sea ice continues to melt, the situation in Churchill may become more typical.

Under this scenario, the lesson of Hudson Bay is that polar bears need protected space in which to await the return of winter sea ice.

Question from: Kate, Nelson, Heather:

What is polar bear high season for tourists?

From the scientists on Buggy One:

Polar bear “high season” for tourists is October-November for about 6
weeks around freeze up. The tourism industry must be very
nerve-wracking, because when the Hudson Bay freezes over the bears
simply leave. Tours are scheduled for the weeks that local people know
they have historically had good bear viewing with a high probability of
the bears actually being around and not walking out on the ice. Imagine
scheduling tours for bear-watching now that the Arctic is warming faster
than anywhere on the planet! Late October this year was warm and there
was no snow when we arrived in Churchill, so we saw very few bears. But
in years past those same weeks were cold and had snow and lots of bears!
One year, the Bay even froze on Halloween night! (The year the Bay froze
on October 31st, the bears were gone the next day)

Question from Rebecca, Brant, Bowers, and Haleigh:

Polars bears are an endangered species. Will they ever increase in population?

From the scientists on Buggy One:

Polar bear populations were pretty low, we think (based on guesses on
population level recorded for us by scientists of the time) in the 1960s
and 1970s. Then the polar bears were protected from most hunting
throughout their range, although some hunting was still allowed for
native villages. Polar bear populations are now scientifically estimated
(variety of modern estimating techniques) at 20-25,000 animals. As we
said in the webcasts, the polar bear is completely dependent on sea ice,
which is their habitat, their home, their feeding platform and breeding
platform. The continental shelf sea ice supports phytoplankton,
zooplankton, Arctic cod, ringed seal and other ice-breeding seals, and
the polar bear at the top of the food chain. If we reversed global
warming, and the Earth got cooler, causing the northern sea ice habitat
for all of these Arctic creatures, then at that time (thousands of years
in the future at this point), the polar bear populations might increase.
At this point, the populations are declining as quickly as the sea ice
declines.