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“Observers flying over Alaska's northwest coast spotted nine polar bears in one day swimming in the open ocean. Scientists say this is an increase from previous surveys that may indicate warming conditions are forcing bears to make riskier, long-distance swims to stable sea ice or land.A federal marine contractor, Science Applications International Corp, spotted the bears in the Chukchi Sea during a survey flight.The survey flight was scouting land for the Minerals Management Service in advance of future offshore oil development. The MMS in February leased 2.76 million acres within an offshore area slightly smaller than Pennsylvania. Project director Janet Clark said observers Saturday were looking for whales but also recorded walrus and polar bears. She said many were swimming north and ranged from 15 to 65 miles off shore.Polar bears were declared a threatened species in May because of an alarming loss of summer sea ice and forecasts that the trend would continue, according to Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. Polar bears spend most of their lives on sea ice, which they use as a platform to hunt their primary prey, ringed seals.



Shallow water over the continental shelf is the most biologically productive for seals, but pack ice in recent years has receded far beyond the shelf.One consequence of less ice will be more energy-sapping, long-distance swims by polar bears trying to reach feeding, mating or denning areas, conservation groups say.” source...