Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 10/22/2009 - 08:57
Forums
Polar Bear Response to Sea Ice Loss

Hey my name is Jose from New Start Middle School, and i have a question. Can the polar bears adapt to eat fish? If so what would happen? Also is there a way we can help the polar bears to keep the ice, how can we do it??

                                                                                       Your friend, Jose
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 09:45

Cristina Galvan

Hi Jose,Polar bears have been seen eating fish in the wild, but this is not a
common behavior. There a couple of reasons for that. Polar bears can
swim and can handle being in the cold water, however they are not
adapted to catch fish. They are not fast or agile enough in the water
to catch fish, like a seal would be. Also polar bears need really fatty
food - like seals - and fish don't have enough fat for the polar bears.
For your second question, the way to help the polar bears keep the sea
ice is by learning more about climate change and the causes of climate
change. There is still lots of debate about the causes of the current
climate changes that are happening, but there is a connection between
the amount of "greenhouse gases" and climate change. I encourage you to
learn more about climate change and how you can make changes to what is
happening.
Thanks,
Ms Galvan