Polar Bear, Arctic Alaska, #19069

Description

Polar bear male on Arctic sea ice, Alaska.  A polar bear’s seasonal movements are driven by ice movements and conditions and can be quite extensive. Most polar bears remain with the pack ice as it recedes north during the summer melting season.  Polar bears are capable of swimming incredible distances, regularly swimming over 30 miles and, in one case, as far as 220 miles. They hunt seals from ice, however, and swim to find suitable ice platforms. Along Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast, some polar bears go ashore to rest until shore-fast ice begins to develop along the coast in late fall and the pack ice advances south, allowing them to again hunt ice seals. Also, some female bears den on land along the northeastern Alaskan coast within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.