Polar bear biologist Andrew Derocher published a tracking map of his collared polar bear females that shows one bear (out of 11) still on the rapidly diminishing ice north of Churchill in Western Hudson Bay – and where there is a collared female, there is almost certainly other bears doing the exact same thing:
Without evidence to support such a claim, Derocher (below) assumes this collared female is probably hunting seals. In fact, last year he admitted that most bears on Hudson Bay from at least July onward are unlikely to be successfully hunting seals:
The ice is almost invisible on the chart above and it’s still pretty hard to see on the CIS map below for the following day (15 August):
After more than a week (from 3 August) without any bear activity, over the last few days the wildlife cameras scanning the shoreline of Wakusp National Park east of Churchill operated by Explore.org spotted a mother with two cubs (on Wednesday 12 August) and a single bear (Friday 14 August) apparently just off the ice:
Below is the Arctic-wide view of sea ice at the same date (14 August 2020):
See my discussion last week on what it means that these polar bears are not onshore already (with references), even with so little ice left on the bay; also, to follow-up on my last post, there is still no sign of a report from the Polar Bear Alert Program regarding problem bears in Churchill.
You must be logged in to post a comment.