January is not a huge month for polar bears. Yes, they are out on the ice but their prime hunting season is yet to come. Most seals taken by polar bears are in the spring – during seal birthing season – and most appear to be under two years of age.
And while the ice was late forming this year, there was a bounty of seals appearing near Churchill – whether this is an anomaly or simply a sign of a seal population boom it is hard to say. However, this meant that several bears have a significant head start on the season. (See the blog entry about polar bears actually stockpiling seals near Churchill…)
So, some bears are having one of their best years of their life and others are maybe a little frantic, especially if they were in a spot with few seals and a late freezeup… possibly along the east coast of Wapusk National Park.
Either way, the best a polar bear can hope for right now is a mild winter – it is a bit of a fallacy that bears need the extreme cold. They seem to prefer mid-range temperatures (mid-range for us northerners being -20C). In fact, polar bears simply hunker down during blizzards (yes, they are adapted to exist in -40 blizzards but no one actually likes -40 blizzards… except for maybe ravens who on the surface do not appear to be adapted for it at all).
Another interesting factor this winter is the lack of ice on the eastern half of Hudson Bay. While Hudson Bay should be completely frozen for about a month now, there is still open water along the coast of Quebec.
While this season is clearly one of the warmest and lowest ice seasons in recent history, this may not be a complete disaster for the polar bears of Hudson Bay. The western Hudson Bay bears did not get on the ice until December – about three weeks late. However, they have been on the ice for one month now.
The polar bears of Southern Hudson Bay are a relatively healthy population – apparently in better shape as a population than the western Hudson Bay bears. This open water could be beneficial in a strange way. This floe edge may present an opportunity for an extended hunting season and increased access to seals.
Little is really known about the patterns of the southern Hudson Bay population and while this is a big ‘if’, it is one possibility that, even if remote, should be considered. All in all, the late freeze of 2010 has not created a dire situation for the polar bears of Hudson Bay.
In fact, there is enough ice, the winter is not too harsh and there has been and may still be ready access to seals… that’s not too shabby.
