Yesterday we had another moment of mass hysteria. Many of us were quietly working, as usual, in the common room where we have lectures and presentations. Something in Russian came over the intercom system, and one of the Russians in the room shouted: “polar bear!” Everyone put down their laptops, and ran – I mean SPRINTED – out of the room, through the dining hall, and out to the deck, with no thought of coats.
We have been seeing icebergs the last couple days, but not the big flat ice floes, so no one had been expecting to see a bear. And we went outside, it still looked as if there could not possibly be a bear. There was no ice! But looking in the water, there was a big, adorable, furry white head swimming nearby. He swam back and forth, seemingly curious about the ship, and then swam toward the back of the ship. And of course we all followed toward the stern as well. Everyone was smiling and happy, but there was also a look of fear and a little sadness on many people’s faces. Where was the ice? In what direction could he swim to get back to the ice? Rationally, we know that polar bears are classified as marine mammals and are capable of swimming for a day or more at a time. But that extent still seems extreme. So we all want to think that he was out for a swim and will happily swim back to ice that is just beyond the horizon. Look how amazing and beautiful he is!
Hi Lindsay my name is Danyl Hernandez from Law Officers Memorial High School i wanted to know what was the highest iceberg you guys have recorded
Dear Danyl, we have seen some AMAZING icebergs. They are so beautiful, and so many shapes and features and patterns, that the ocean kind of looks like a scene from a fairy tale or movie! If you look at the blog posts that I posted on both the 15th and the 17th (if you didn’t see them already), you can see some spectacular icebergs. As far as the tallest one we’ve seen, from sight we estimate that some of the tallest ones have been maybe 15 feet out of the water! The ship avoids the big ones certainly, because you never know how extensive they are under the water’s surface!
Hey Lindsay, I was wondering how far of a distance the polar bears would have to swim to reach the icebergs ?
Dear Rochae, it depends on where the polar bear is, and what time of year (winter or summer), and also, actually they would be swimming to sea ice (which are the big, flat sheets and pieces of ice that form on the ocean), as opposed to icebergs (which are huge chunks of ice that break off glaciers on land). In the summer, as some sea ice melts, polar bears may have a harder time finding sea ice from areas of open ocean (and they will have a harder and harder time if the overall annual extent of sea ice continues to decrease, as it has for the most part over the last few decades). The day that we saw the swimming polar bear, the nearest sea ice (according to what we could see and estimate) was a couple miles away, so the polar bear could surely swim there!
Hi Lindsay I was wondering if you think the polar bears in the Arctic are animals that are affected by global warming more than other Arctic animals? Like you said they can swim for more than a day but since there is less and less ice each year, what do you think will happen to them?
Hi Shannon, well, I’m a little scared and sad to say it (or type it, or think it), but I’m definitely worried what will happen to polar bears if the sea ice keeps decreasing the way it has been. 🙁 The warming climate has already had a negative effect on the polar bear population, and it will not get better if the ice extent continues to decrease. There are definitely other animals that are affected as well, like seals, walruses, and birds, who also count on the presence of sea ice over the ocean. So for all these reasons, I hope that we (individuals and governments) continue to make better and better decisions regarding what we can do to slow the warming of the climate.
Wow that’s so sad! I definitely agree with you that we need to make better decisions on how to slow the warming of the climate.
Dear Shannon, thanks for writing, the more we get more people “onboard” with that idea, the better!
Hey ! You must feel like your in heaven because you have beautiful turtles and polor bears ! :DD what if the polor bear was unable to find a safe place to go what can you and your crew do to help them ?
Hi Jeyny, in a way it does feel like heaven because the view is amazing (just to think I’m at the top of the world), and it’s such a rare opportunity that I feel very lucky to be here. However, it is a lot of work and a lot of energy involved – for the scientists, to get everything done in all the experiments and operations, for the students, to work on projects and assist scientists in observations, and for me, to learn about all the experiments and operations onboard and then write about it. But to be here learning about the Earth is so cool. About the polar bear, we would unfortunately not be able to do anything from the ship, and because we are so far away from anything else, but remember that we did not see him struggling – he was just swimming around, and there was definitely ice in the distance. Polar bears can swim for a long time, so let’s hope he made it there just fine!
This is really an amazing sight. Nature at its best,
Mom, it really was one of the most amazing sights ever. EVER. A little sad in a way, but awesome. 🙂
Seeing a Polar bear swimming in the wild… not many people can say they’ve had that experience!
.Hi Jennifer, I know, that is a story I will tell for a long time to come!
Hi Lindsay! Have you guys spotted dead polar bears in the water? Also, what is the probability that the polar bear you mentioned in your post would have made it back to ice?
Dear Yanelis, no we have not seen any dead polar bears, it was just sad to think about some polar bears not being able to get to food sources because of the decrease in sea ice over the years. I can’t say exactly where our swimming polar bear went, but we could see some sea ice (it was just pretty far away), so I want to think he’s fine.
How cute! Do you know where the Polar Bears “live”? Looking back at the other ocean pictures all I see is water and ice. Do they stay in big, cave-like chunks of ice?
Hi Marangelie, they just live on the ice most of the time, but in the summer, when there is less ice, they live on the land surrounding the Arctic, like the islands off the north coast of Canada and Asia. When they’re on the ice, they don’t really have shelter except for maybe a ridge in the ice which may provide some protection from the wind. The exception to that is females make a kind of ice cave shelter when during the winter when they are pregnant.
Hey Lindsay does the absence of big flat ice floes mean that the ice is receding at a faster rate in these icy regions?
Hi Selvin, from satellite images we have seen that the overall extent of sea ice each year has been for the most part decreasing annually. We can’t really say that a specific ice floe is bigger or smaller due to the broader climate changing, since climate effects occur over huge distances (like hundreds of miles or more) and long time scales (like years or decades or more). But we have been traveling a lot, and sometimes we have been further north into regions of thicker ice, and sometimes we have been in regions of more open water. But in general, over time, the extent of ice has definitely been decreasing as a whole.
Wow, this is amazing! Where do you think the nearest sheet of ice was located? The polar bear probably got off track looking for food or something of that nature. I hope it made it back safely
Hi Isaiah, I know, I hope it made it back safely too! We did see ice in the distance, probably a couple miles away, and polar bears can easily swim a lot farther than that, so let’s assume that he is ok and that he made it just fine. 🙂
Hello, I am a student from Law Enforcement Officers Memorial High School, I was wondering, if you saw an animal and it needed help; for example, if this Polar Bear was unable to swim safely to the icebergs, would your crew intervene to help the animal or just let Mother Nature take its course and let the animal die?
Hi Nicole, that is a really tough question, and it hurts me a little to say it, but we are not equipped onboard to handle dealing with such a large (and potentially dangerous) animal as a polar bear, nor are we close enough to any other source of help, and we are not supposed to interfere in any case. So we would not be able to help. I’m just glad we have not seen such a case.
Is there an ocean Current circling the North Pole, Similar to the circumpolar current moving clock wise around the Antarctic continent at the South Pole?
Dear Carlos, actually it’s interesting because of the difference between the Arctic and Antarctic. Water circulates around Antarctica, which is a land, but the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land. But there are multiple currents circling the multiple deep basins in the Arctic Ocean, so there is definitely water circulating (in some cases, to/from the Atlantic), just not really one current making one circular route.
What was Sea Ice like Before Satellite Era?
Hi Carlos, it’s hard to say to any degree of certainty on the large scale, but we know “individual data points,” meaning that we have observations taken from individual ships and explorers who have noted ice conditions at various times and places. It’s a hard place to get to of course, so satellites are super useful in this way.