Animal Xploration-Issue 5

Perishing Polar Icecaps and Polar Bears 

I am a Polar Bear. I live in the Arctic, and the Polar Bear capital of the world- the town of Churchill in Manitoba, Canada.

ABOUT ME:

I'm Pete Polar Bear. I have a white fur coat, no, actually not white. It's transparent with black fur underneath. My white transparent fur reflects heat while the black fur absorbs heat so my body can keep warm in the fr-free-freezing Arctic. I have a thick coat of fur that traps air very well. As you science geeks know, air is an insulator a poor conductor of heat (don't use insulator. Insulator means that it totally 100% cannot conduct heat. However, everything, even you and I can conduct heat, so the word 'insulator' in this context cannot be used. 'Poor conductor' would be better. BUT! Remember that you should only use this when you are Singaporean.) Anyway. Where was I? Oh yeah. So because air is a poor conductor of heat, heat from my body cannot be conducted the the c-c-cold surroundings quickly, so I can keep warm for a longer period of time.

Here's a simple diagram to explain this process:

              Heat              Heat
MY BODY-------->AIR-------->SURROUNDINGS (ARCTIC)

Fun Facts about me:
Have you ever had a toothache? Well, I did. And it sure was terrible. Worse that your human kinda toothache. You MUST remember: Like humans, Polar Bears feel pain too, have emotions and can be afraid. We're not perfect, you know. When we have toothaches, we are in a darn pretty bad mood. You'll never know how painful it is. Never. But I'm telling ya, never touch or disturb a Polar Bear with a toothache! You'll regret if you ever did!

How am I different from my cousins, like the Grizzly Bear, or the Sun Bear etc.? Did you ever wonder? Your answer: The colour of my fur coat. Yes, indeed. Other bears' fur coats are usually brown/black but my fur coat is white/cream coloured. Other than that? Any other differences? Well, I'm different in one BIG way. I am a marine mammal. Like seals and walruses (my favourite meal), we Polar Bears spend most of our lives on the ocean. You see, our scientific name, Ursus Maritimus, means "Sea Bear", so we obviously live in the SEA!

Here's a step-by-step guide of how to get a delicious meal of seals:

1. Find a nice little hole in the ice all for yourself
2. Lie flat on the icy flat ground
3. Keep still! Hold your breath!
4. Wait till a seal's head bobs up from the water (Poor seal has done so in order to get some air!)
5. Lunge forward. Bare your teeth and grab the seal's head
6. Drag it onto the ice
7. Tear up all the meat with your paws
8. Ta Da! Enough to fill your tummy!
9. (Not related to hunting) Remember to clean up after that. I have to. Mom wouldn't be pleased seeing bloody reddish paws. 

Actually, I eat other stuff, like Caribou or Walruses. But in my personal opinion, seal meat is my favourite. Seal meat is the best! Oh yeah. And here's another tip should you ever go hunting for seals: To conceal yourself well among the icy Arctic background, cup your white furry paw over your black nose. Oops! I almost forgot, you're a human, not a bear. But that's a bonus hunting tip for you.

Family moments:
When I was born, my Dad wasn't around. I never met him. Ever. My mom took care of 4 of us, 2 girls and 2 boys. That's me (Pete), Patty (my eldest sister), Penny (my youngest sister) and Peter (my younger brother). Usually, female Polar Bears give birth to twins. But for us, we are quadruplets!

Haha... That's Peter and me fooling around

AND...

This is Mom, Patty and Penny

How did Mom take care of us? How were we able to survive? Here's how Mom did it: She dug a den.

A simple picture to show how the den looked like:

It sure was warm inside the den. :)

We Polar Bears definitely are serious swimmers. In fact, we can swim distances of more than 100 MILES! A HUNDRED MILES! Can you beat that?! I have swum with Mom during our weekly swimming practices through the freezing waters of Wager Bay.

I do hope to see you soon in the Arctic, or maybe when you travel to Churchill in Manitoba, Canada (Polar Bear Capital of the world), visit me! I'll be utterly glad to see you. I wish I can see all of you before everything of me disappears. You see, the Arctic is disappearing. the place which I can call home is disappearing. We, Polar Bears are on thin ice. We are on the verge of extinction, disappearing off the face of the Earth forever due to global warming. Now, only YOU can help us. 

• STOP releasing so much CO2 and other horrid gases into the atmosphere. CO2 is a greenhouse gas. It traps heat in the atmosphere and melts the Arctic.
• STOP wasting electricity. Electricity may run out too in the foreseeable future.
• And many more.......

Do YOUR part to save the Earth today. Otherwise, you might lose your home too.

Smilies,

Pete Polar Bear
 

PS: Remember to save our precious Earth. And don't forget me! Hope to see y'all soon! 

If lost, please send mail to:

The Arctic

Den Number 104

Pete Polar Bear

Thank you!

Information about Polar Bears taken from:

National Geographic book- Face to face with Polar Bears

by Norbert Rosing (Photographer) & Elizabeth Carney