Polar Bears - Data, Pictures and Videos

[sanjay]

Question from Ruth: Do polar bears swim?

Answer by Dr. Thea Bechshoft

Polar bears are experts at doggie paddle swimming: they use their front paws to paddle with while their hind legs trail behind them. Data from satellite collars show that swims of an average of 100 km (62 miles) over 3 days are not unusual. However, the most extreme polar bear swim that we know of was an adult female who swam for nine days straight, a total of 687 km (426 miles). Very impressive! However, it did cost her her cub and 22% of her body fat, meaning that although this swim was physically possible for her, it was a challenge.

One of the consequences of climate change is that the Arctic sea ice gets more scattered. This means that the bears have to spend more of their valuable energy stores (body fat) on swimming to get from ice floe to ice floe as they wander the sea ice looking for seals.

A bit of bonus info while we’re on the topic and because I get asked this quite often: polar bears can dive for at least 3 minutes. Also, they are strong but slow swimmers, not nearly fast or agile enough to be able to catch seals by hunting them in the water. Reply