New polar bear population discovered in Greenland

Scientists have studied and tracked polar bears that have been found to have survived despite limited access to ocean ice - a crucial element for cold-area animals. Instead, the bears used freshwater ice from the Greenland ice sheet.

A polar bear in Southeast Greenland in September 2016.

'We wanted to survey this area because we didn't know much about the polar bears in Southeast Greenland, but researchers never expected to find a new newborn population living there,' the author said. lead author Kristin Laidre, a polar research scientist at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory, in a statement.

'We know there are several bears in the area from historical records and indigenous knowledge. We just don't know how special they are."

The importance of ice

The 19 known populations of polar bears rely on ocean ice to hunt for prey, like the ringed seals, which often sit near ice holes to capture their prey. The calories provided by seals can help them store energy for months when food and ice are scarcer.

Global warming is causing ice to rapidly melt and disappear as the Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet. As the layers of ice disappear, polar bears have to move on land, leaving them with fewer opportunities to forage.

An adult female polar bear (left) and two 1-year-old cubs walk on a glacier in March 2015.

Meanwhile, Greenland polar bears in the southeast tend to live close to home, so they have adapted to their environment in a unique way. Despite being isolated by the Greenland ice sheet, mountains and fast coastal currents, the polar bears have access to freshwater and a few sea ice, which allows them to capture water. water seal.

The bears can use the ice from February to the end of May. During the rest of the year, they will hunt seals using fresh water ice as it separates from the large iceberg.

'Polar bears are threatened by the melting of ocean ice due to climate change,' said Laidre, an associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington.

'But we need to be careful when extrapolating our findings, because the glacier ice that has enabled bears in Southeast Greenland to survive is absent from most of the Arctic.

The environment in southeast Greenland is a unique, small-scale climate refuge where bears can survive, and similar habitats can be found along the coasts of Greenland and Svalbard Island. of Norway.

A fjord in southeastern Greenland was filled with water in April 2016.

'These types of glaciers do exist in places other than the Arctic, but the combination of fjord shapes, often high glacier ice production, and the very large ice reserves available from Greenland are now providing steady supply of glaciers," study co-author Twila Moon, deputy chief science officer at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement.

'In a sense, these bears provided a glimpse into how the bears in Greenland might survive future climate scenarios,' Laidre said. The ice in Southeast Greenland today is quite similar to what is predicted for Northeast Greenland by the end of the century'.

Aerial research

The new study includes 30 years of historical data from the east coast of Greenland and seven years of new data from the southeast coast.

The team spent two years consulting with polar bear hunters, who hunt for bears for survival, rather than pleasure, in eastern Greenland. Hunters can share their expertise and contribute samples for genetic analysis.

Three adult polar bears in Greenland April 2015.

The researchers, who worked with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources in Nuuk, Greenland, to be able to study and track the bears by helicopter, estimate that there are a few hundred bears living in the remote area. avoid. The same is true for small polar bear populations in other regions.

Female polar bears in Southeast Greenland are smaller than female polar bears in other regions. Smaller bears also have fewer cubs, which may involve trying to find a mate as they roam the surrounding fjords and mountains.

The bears either traverse the ice in the fjords or climb over the mountains to the neighboring fjords. Of the 27 bears tracked during the study, half of them accidentally drifted about 190km south on average, trapped on small ice sheets in the East Greenland coastal fast current.

Once the bears get a chance, they simply jump off the ice and walk back to the fjord they call home. Created by glaciers, fjords are deep, long, narrow sea inlets found between high cliffs.

Polar bear jump.

Moon said: 'Even if rapid changes occur on the ice sheet, this area in Greenland is likely to continue to produce glacial ice, and the coast could stay as it is for a long time. '.

However, the researchers warn that this habitat may not be enough for other polar bears in the wake of the climate crisis.

Laidre said: 'If you're worried about the conservation of polar bears, then yes, our findings are very hopeful - I think we've seen how some polar bears can survive in climate change conditions'.

Uncertain future

The researchers believe that the Greenland polar bears of the southeast have evolved in isolation over several hundred years. According to the study authors, the earliest known reference to a bear at the site is in the 1300s, and the first record of the animal in the area's fjords is from the 1830s.

The status of the polar bears is still unknown. Researchers don't know if the population is stable, increasing or decreasing, but more tracking could reveal the future for this unique population, Laidre said.

As the ice sheets disappear, polar bears have to move over land, leaving them with less opportunity to forage.

Because of their isolation, the polar bears are so genetically distinct that the researchers suggest that the southeastern Greenland polar bears should be considered the 20th cub of the species.

Laidre said: 'Preserving the genetic diversity of polar bears is crucial in light of climate change. Formal recognition of these bears as a separate population will have important conservation and management implications.

Meanwhile, sea ice continues to melt in the Arctic, which greatly reduces the survival rate of most future polar bear populations.

'Climate action is of the utmost importance to the future of polar bears,' emphasized Laidre.