The Alan Sondheim Mail Archive

April 25, 2016


Melting ice means no rest for weary polar bears

Apr. 22, 2016

http://www.alansondheim.org/roches20.jpg
http://www.alansondheim.org/acdc.mp4

As the Arctics ice continues to melt away, polar bears are
increasingly being forced to swim for days straight to find food
and rest, The Washington Post reports. Of more than 100 bears
monitored by a Canadian researcher, 69% took a swim of at least
49 kilometers in 2012, up from 25% in 2004, according to a new
study in the journal Ecography. One bear in 2009 was observed
swimming 402 kilometers in a 9-day journey during which her
year-old cub died. Though polar bears are adept swimmers, they
are not built to swim long distances, and they were rarely seen
making such journeys in earlier decades. But the continuing
break-up of the Arctics sea ice means that polar bears must do
more marathon swims over open waters to find food.

(Usually I don't make assemblages, and this one, unfair as it
is, is something I've been thinking about recently. Consider it
propaganda at its worst. Do note the ucannily beautiful rust-
belt landscape from downtown Rochester.)

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