{"id":282357,"date":"2023-10-07T18:47:21","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T16:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=282357"},"modified":"2023-10-07T18:47:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T16:47:24","slug":"feeding-time-for-russian-polar-bears-as-shorefast-ice-returns-to-laptev-sea-ice-generator-of-the-arctic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=282357","title":{"rendered":"Feeding time for Russian polar bears as shorefast ice returns to Laptev Sea, ice-generator of the Arctic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Russia’s stray polar bear taken back to the wild<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From polarbearscience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fall is the second-most important feeding season for polar bears after spring but it comes at different times for different subpopulations.\u00a0Sea ice formation<\/a>\u00a0along shorelines attracts fish and seals and that means polar bears which spent the summer onshore will soon eat again after their summer fast. As usual, the earliest ice formation this year is along the\u00a0coast of the Laptev Sea<\/a>, which is one of the\u00a0primary \u2018ice-generators\u2019<\/a>\u00a0of Arctic sea ice. Western and Southern Hudson Bay bears will have longer to wait but the ice will eventually come to them too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Three adult male polar bears share a seal kill on the newly-formed ice off Wapusk National Park, Western Hudson Bay. 5 November 2020. Buggy cam, Explore.org
WH photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sea ice conditions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, close-up of\u00a0ice formation<\/a>\u00a0along the\u00a0Laptev Sea<\/a>\u00a0in Russia (upper left in the chart) at 5 October 2023. This shorefast ice formation in fall provides a predictable but short-lived source of prey for polar bears as they strive to regain some of the\u00a0weight lost over the summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The average summer (September) sea ice extent\u00a0for 2023 was 4.4 mkm2<\/a>, again nowhere close to \u201cice-free\u201d conditions and which makes\u00a017 years of a near-zero trend since 2007<\/a>. Graph below from\u00a0NSIDC<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laptev Sea ice formation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\u00a0this ice formation<\/a>\u00a0begins in the fall, it continues throughout the winter and spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polar bear fall feeding on shorefast ice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I mentioned in a 2020 post<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.\u2026it seems the cooling process necessary for sea ice formatio<\/a>n along the shore of Arctic regions initially creates an underwater current that brings nutrients from deeper, saltier water<\/a> up to the surface (\u2018upwelling\u2019). The process of early ice formation<\/a> also involves vertical movement of ice crystals in the water column, enhancing this upwelling (Buckley et al. 1979). This transient fall coastal upwelling brings nutrients near the surface for single-cell organisms that are food for fish (Stirling 1997; Tremblay et al. 2012).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As fish congregate briefly to feed near the surface close to shore, ringed seals of all ages congregate as well \u2013 all along the edges and underneath the ice that begins to form. When this new fast ice becomes thick enough for a polar bear to stand upon (about 30 cm thick) \u2013 either through continued ice formation or because the ice has been buckled and deformed by winds and tides<\/a> into thickened ridges \u2013 some seals may haul out to rest or come to the surface to breath and become prey for hungry bears.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This inevitable process takes place every fall and it\u2019s why polar bears know they can hunt successfully out on the new fast ice after months without food over the summer \u2013 and it\u2019s almost certainly why the bears head out on the ice as soon as it\u2019s physically possible for them to do so.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mother with triplet cubs, 31 October 2020, heading out on newly-formed shorefast ice. Dave Allcorn photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From polarbearscience Fall is the second-most important feeding season for polar bears after spring but it comes at different times for different subpopulations.\u00a0Sea ice formation\u00a0along shorelines attracts fish and seals and that means polar bears which spent the summer onshore will soon eat again after their summer fast. As usual, the earliest ice formation this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":282366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Fall is the second-most important feeding season for polar bears after spring but it comes at different times for different subpopulations.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691823416,691818251,691823417,691819208],"class_list":{"0":"post-282357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-laptev-sea","9":"tag-polar-bears","10":"tag-primary-ice-generators","11":"tag-russian-oil","13":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/image-165.png?fit=2554%2C1596&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1bs9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":222570,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=222570","url_meta":{"origin":282357,"position":0},"title":"New polar bear hunting habitat forming already along the coast of the Laptev Sea: A new trend?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Not even three weeks after the\u00a0yearly minimum\u00a0of sea ice extent was reached this year, new shorefast ice is already forming off the coast of Siberi","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-311.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-311.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-311.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-311.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-311.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":209932,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=209932","url_meta":{"origin":282357,"position":1},"title":"Thick sea ice in the Western Arctic is not good habitat for polar bears, seals, or walrus","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/07\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks into the Arctic summer (July-September), sea ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas is dominated by thick, multi-year ice. At this time of year, multi-year ice is an important refuge habitat for many polar bears when seasonal ice melts out. However, it provides few opportunities for hunting\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-289.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-289.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-289.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-289.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/image-289.png?fit=1200%2C817&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":254176,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254176","url_meta":{"origin":282357,"position":2},"title":"Earth Day sea ice habitat during critical spring season for Arctic seals, polar bears, and walrus","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/04\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the most important time of year for Arctic marine mammals that spend time above the ice: birthing,\u00a0breeding, and\u00a0feeding. 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However, he fails short of admitting that the bears don\u2019t really need summer ice as long as they are well-fed in spring, which they have been for the\u00a0last two\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0barents-sea-svalbard-polar-bear-spring-2018_angelika-renner_norwegian-polar-institute.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0barents-sea-svalbard-polar-bear-spring-2018_angelika-renner_norwegian-polar-institute.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0barents-sea-svalbard-polar-bear-spring-2018_angelika-renner_norwegian-polar-institute.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0barents-sea-svalbard-polar-bear-spring-2018_angelika-renner_norwegian-polar-institute.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/0barents-sea-svalbard-polar-bear-spring-2018_angelika-renner_norwegian-polar-institute.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":262450,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=262450","url_meta":{"origin":282357,"position":5},"title":"New evidence that polar bears survived 1,600 years of ice-free summers in the early Holocene","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"New evidence\u00a0indicates that Arctic areas with the thickest ice today probably melted out every year during the summer for about 1,600 years during the early Holocene (ca. 11.3-9.7k years ago), making the Arctic virtually ice-free. As I argue in\u00a0my new book, this means that polar bears and other Arctic species\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"early Holocene\"","block_context":{"text":"early Holocene","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=early-holocene"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-polar-bear.jpeg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-polar-bear.jpeg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-polar-bear.jpeg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-polar-bear.jpeg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-polar-bear.jpeg?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=282357"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":282368,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282357\/revisions\/282368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/282366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=282357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=282357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=282357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}