Polar Bears and Tracking Mayhem

Polar bears are fascinating animals that roam across the Arctic, but they’re a lot more faceted than the adorable faces portrayed in children’s books and on Coke commercials. While researching these amazing animals, I discovered so many cool things. Too many to include in one article, but here are the highlights.

How Big are Polar Bears?

Polar bears are enormous, weighing more than 1300 lbs and span more than 8’6” from nose to tail, crowning them as the largest carnivore on Mother Earth. Though other bears can grow even bigger—Alaska’s 10’ long Kodiak bears beat them in size but they’re omnivores—polar bears prefer meat. Males outweigh females, who weigh between 330-650 pounds. Their weight fluctuates throughout the year, with some bears packing on 50% more body weight over the course of a successful hunting season, then losing it during their long fasting months.

When polar bears aren’t out on ice hunting seals, they fast longer than any other mammal. A pregnant polar bear can fast up to 240 days (eight months!). Non-pregnant bears spend 120 days fasting between hunts. Sadly, as we lose more and more sea ice, researchers now believe polar bears will go longer and longer without food, fasting as long as 180 days at a time. Can you imagine not eating for five months?

Huge Feet

To balance on ice, polar bears boast ginormous feet. Paws can measure up to 12” in diameter, which act as snowshoes to support their weight and to spread that weight over deep snow and on thin ice to avoid falling through. The bumpy papillae (like on our tongues) on their footpads help grip the ice, along with long, curved claws that can measure almost 4 inches. Fur coats the bottom of their massive paws, which helps to protect their feet from the cold and offers them better traction on the ice.

Those impressive paws hold fascinating secrets.

Like brown bears, polar bear footprints are chockfull of information—height, weight, bulk, sex, and reproductive status—and DNA. When a male is “in the mood” he follows a female’s footprints for miles, if necessary. Once he finds her, she puts him through a series of tests. If he does well and she accepts him, the couple stays together for at least one full week. Male polar bears are surprisingly gentle and attentive lovers.

Because of melting sea ice, males are forced farther and farther in search of mates, and into grizzly territory. In some places, the two species are getting more amorous with each other. In Alaska and western Canada, grizzlies and polar bears are crossbreeding, creating an enormous hybrid species.

Polar Bear Adaptability

Polar Bears thrive in the Arctic’s harsh climate. A protective layer of outer fur combined with a dense undercoat help the bears stay warm in temperatures that can plunge to -50°F. A dense layer of fat up to 4.5” thick helps insulate the bears from freezing Arctic waters, and helps them stay buoyant while they swim.

A Sleuth of Polar Bears

Polar bears play nice with one another if there’s a big enough meal for multiple individuals. When they do gather in large groups—called a sleuth—male bears play-fight, wrestling and swatting at each other without doing any real harm. Polar bears have such a good memory they can recognize friends even if they haven’t seen each other for many years.

Mobility

Polar bears can sprint up to 30 miles per hour, if necessary, but they don’t run for long. Much like we wouldn’t want to race in a heavy ski jacket, polar bears overheat. Hot blooded, a bear’s temperature can rise to feverish temps if they chase prey for too long.

On land, they walk at speeds of 3 mph. A polar bear’s main hunting technique involves staying still for hours or days at a time, waiting for seals to poke their noses through a breathing hole in the ice.

Polar bears are also savvy swimmers, paddling at an average speed of 6 mph. Good thing, too. With all that melting ice, polar bears are forced to swim farther and farther in search of food. In a 2011 study, researchers found a tagged female polar bear swam a total of 426 miles in one continual nine-day stretch, losing 22% of her body weight and her cub in the process. Another bear in the study swam for 12 days, though she at least rested along the way.

“So the sort of conditions that contribute to long-distance swimming are likely going to persist in the future, and if cub mortality is directly related to this, then it would have a negative impact on the population,” said one research named Durner.

It’s unknown whether the cubs are drowning at sea or whether the metabolically costly act of swimming long distances in nearly freezing water kills them after they reach land. Heartbreaking.

Polar Bear Communication 

Polar bears often communicate with their noses. If one bear wants food from another, they will slowly approach, circle around the food source, then ever-so-gently touch the other bear’s nose with their own. This is considered respectful, non-aggressive behavior that often leads to a free meal.

Like with crows, context matters when deciphering polar bear language. They use a number of different sounds. When a bear is angry or feels threatened, a low growl is a warning to stay back. This low growl sounds more like a trumpeting elephant than, say, a wolf. A polar bear will also hiss and snort when challenged. If the bear is in distress, they chuff.

Sleeping Behavior

Like humans, polar bears sleep an average of 7-8 hours per day. They also frequently nap to conserve energy by curling up in a shallow pit they’ve dug, with their back to the wind. An outstretched paw acts as a pillow. When snow piles up around the bear, it provides extra warmth and insulation.

Polar Bears are Not White

Although polar bear fur appears white, it’s actually transparent. Long hollow hair shafts reflect light much like ice does, making polar bears appear white or yellow. Beneath their thick coats, polar bears have black skin that absorbs the sun’s warmth.

They’re higher on the food chain than you (and me).

Polar bears don’t have any natural predators. Their carnivorous diet plants them at the top of the food chain with species like Orca, while humans fall somewhere closer to the middle. Don’t worry too much about getting eaten, though.

A 2017 study found that during the past 144 years, there have only been 20 fatal polar bear attacks in all of the five countries with polar bear populations (Norway, Russia, Canada, Greenland, and Alaska, U.S.). That said, as food becomes scarcer for these incredible animals, humans living in polar bear territory may soon face greater risk. In fact, the study showed almost all the fatal attacks stemmed from starving young adult bears.

Not to get too treehugger-y on you, but Polar Bears need help

Since 1979, the Arctic has lost 30% of its sea ice cover. Polar bears are being pushed ashore—farther and farther away from their prey—for longer periods of time. Some polar bears have to walk almost 900 miles in search of smaller food items like berries and kelp that don’t fully meet their nutritional needs. Less food means more strain on the bears, especially young cubs. With their habitat melting beneath their feet, the U.S. Geological Survey predicts we’ll lose two-thirds of all polar bears on earth by 2050, if nothing changes.

The mere thought of any animal starving to death due to human destruction wrecks me on such a deep, personal level. Hence why I changed the trajectory of my Mayhem Series into eco-adventure thrillers/Native American metaphysical thrillers. And in Tracking Mayhem, my eco-warriors/antiheroes are in the fight of their lives to stop an impending polar bear hunt—no matter the cost. 

Three unconventional eco-warriors are on a mission to save polar bears from the nation’s largest animal trafficking organization—one dead poacher at a time.

When eco-warriors, Shawnee, Mayhem, and Jacy Lee race across the country, dodging bullets and fighting their way through a gauntlet of danger, they soon realize they must risk everything to protect the bears before it’s too late. With courage, conviction, Native spirituality, and an innate connection to Mother Earth, the trio faces off against the notorious Killzme Corporation to stop the killing of Innocent Ones, the voiceless who can’t fight for themselves. But the stakes are high—blood will spill.

The war to save polar bears begins now. Can the eco-warriors evade Killzme’s relentless pursuit in time to make a difference?

If you enjoy pulse-pounding eco-adventures where poachers meet karmic justice, you will love Tracking Mayhem. I killed so many poachers, I lost track of the body count. 😉 LOL

Now available for preorder!

Note: The $1.99 preorder sale is only on Amazon.

 Tracking Mayhem releases in ebook and paperback on June 26, 2023.

 Have you ever seen a polar bear in person? Tell me about it in the comments!