Looking over a longer time span, bears in the southern Beaufort Sea are now using land to an extent they haven’t used it historically,” a researcher said.
The bears that come to the northern village of Kaktovik are climate refugees, on land because the sea ice they rely on for hunting seals is receding.
Polar bear researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey are only halfway into their annual survey in Alaska and they've already come across nine bears – six in Barrow and 3 in Kaktovik – with signs of alopecia and skin lesions. The muzzle, face, eyes, ears and neck appear most affected, according to a bulletin published Friday by the agency.
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