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🐻‍❄️ Polar bears and life on the melting ice

Follow a marine mammal from sea-ice hunting and seal-rich breathing holes to dens, cubs, melting seasons, and conservation.

4
lessons
~30 min
to learn
Adults
level
Start the course →

What you’ll learn

  1. A bear built for a marine worldExplain how polar-bear anatomy and energy storage fit life on sea ice.Polar bears are marine mammals whose body design supports movement, insulation, swimming, and seal hunting.
  2. Hunting seals on sea iceTrace how sea ice gives polar bears access to high-energy seal prey.Breathing holes, snow lairs, failed hunts, and seasonal ice timing shape the bear’s food supply.
  3. Mothers, cubs, and denningDescribe how snow dens, fasting, and maternal care support cub survival.Reproduction links land-based denning to the later need for productive sea ice.
  4. What melting ice changesConnect changes in sea-ice timing and quality to polar-bear energy and conservation.Earlier melt, thinner ice, longer shore seasons, and regional differences change the pathway from ice to survival.

Questions this course answers

Why is sea ice so important to most polar bears?

Sea ice gives bears access to seals and a stable surface between hunting and resting sites.

What does an earlier seasonal break-up usually do in seasonal-ice regions?

Earlier loss of the hunting platform can extend the period before bears return to productive ice.

Why are seal breathing holes useful to a polar bear?

A seal must surface at a breathing hole, creating a possible ambush point for a waiting bear.

What is a polar-bear den primarily used for?

Pregnant females use snow dens as protected places to give birth and nurse cubs.

Why is food on land usually not a full replacement for seals?

Seals are exceptionally fat-rich prey, while scattered land foods usually cannot supply the same reliable energy.

Which set best describes sea-ice habitat quality?

A usable hunting platform depends on several physical and seasonal properties, not area alone.

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