There are around 26,000 polar bears on the planet out there doing their best as the ice caps melt. We’ve all seen the infamous starving polar bear picture, which has become symbol (rightfully or not) of the impact of climate change on vulnerable species. But last week, instead of starvation came a story of glut.
On September 19, a bowhead whale carcass washed ashore the remote Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve off the Northern coast of Siberia. Nearly 1 percent of the world’s polar bears amassed beside it for a Siberian feast. You had to live it to believe it, even now there are people pinching themselves to make sure it really happened,” Rodney Russ, Expedition Leader, Owner and Founder of Heritage Expeditions writes in his blog.
Russ counted at least 150 polar bears in the group, while a Wrangel Island news release cites 230 as the most conservative estimate. The gathering was unique simply because so many humans were there to see
it. Scientists from nearby Chukotka, Siberia and as far away as Alaska
who study polar bears were informed of the event and are making
observations, according to
the releasE ...
more
No comments:
Post a Comment