3G polar bears are spotted off Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The first formal count of polar bears in waters between the United States and Russia indicates they’re doing better than some of their cousins elsewhere.

Polar bears are listed as a threatened species because of diminished sea ice due to climate change. But university and federal researchers estimate a healthy and abundant population of nearly 3,000 animals in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast, according to a study published this month in Scientific Reports.

“In the near-term, it’s absolutely good news,” said lead author Eric Regehr, who began the project more than a decade ago as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and last year joined the University of Washington’s Polar Science Center.

In the longer term, it doesn’t mean the Chukchi Sea bear population will not be affected.

“Polar bears need ice to hunt seals, and the ice is projected to decline until the underlying problem of climate change is addressed,” Regehr said.

The study shows there is variation around the world in the effects of sea ice loss on polar bears, he said. “Some subpopulations are already declining while others are still doing OK,” he said.

Polar bears are classified as marine mammals because they spend most of their lives on sea ice. Less sea ice means less productive time to hunt ice seals, more time on shore and longer, energy-sapping swims.

The world’s polar bears are divided into 19 subpopulations, including two in U.S. waters. Besides Chukchi bears, the United States shares the southern Beaufort Sea population with Canada.