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It was quite the nerve wracking experience for a group of Canadian researchers recently, when their expensive equipment seemed appetizing to a group of polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea.

See curious polar bears make Canadian scientists nervous


Leeanna McLean
Digital Reporter

Friday, October 2, 2015, 12:21 PM - It was quite the nerve wracking experience for a group of Canadian researchers recently, when their expensive equipment seemed appetizing to a group of polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea.

Kathryn Purdon, an undergraduate student at the University of Victoria (UVIC) captured the three bears on video swimming alongside the CCGS Amundsen.

The group of scientists who were on-board the vessel are part of the International Geotraces and ArcticNet programs, with the goal to measure how climate change in the Arctic is affecting important physical, biological and chemical processes in the marine environment, explained chemical oceanographer Dr. Jay Cullen of UVIC.


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The ship was about 240 km away from sea ice when the researchers stopped to put an instrument package attached to a synthetic cable over the side of the ship. The crew noticed the bear trio swimming around the cable, biting it at times.

"Not there, please, please bears go on," one of the crew members can be heard saying in the video above. "No, go!"

Fortunately, the expensive instruments valued at about $200,000 were spared, after the mom and two cubs swam away.

Dr. Cullen who was on the ship but missed the bear encounter says he was, "quite surprised and astounded to see the video."

While it is common for researchers to see polar bears during expeditions, Dr. Cullen says the team usually will see them hunting on sea ice. Cullen showed the video to polar bear biologist Andrew Derocher at the University of Alberta.

"He seemed to think the bears weren't really distressed, but that they seemed a bit curious. They wanted to know what this black cable was," Cullen said. "One of the ways polar bears explore their environment is by bitting things. So that was quite nerve wracking for the science crew to see their tethered instrument potentially becoming untethered."

Arctic sea ice extent was the fourth lowest on record this year, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. As a result, there has been speculation that this puts stress on polar bears as they rely on the ice to hunt. A shocking image of an emaciated polar bear in Norway has one photographer recently speaking out on the drastic effects of climate change on Arctic wildlife.

"Our research focuses on changes in ocean circulation and the base of the marine food web in response to climate change and regional warming in the Arctic," explained Dr. Cullen. "Those who study polar bears see important links. Work using GPS collars to track the frequency and distance of open water swims by these bears, see that bears are swimming farther more often as sea ice extent in summer diminishes year after year. Whether the additional energy required for these swims negatively impacts the polar bear, survival and success remains an important but unanswered question."

Source: Cullen Lab 

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