Polar Bear experts are on hand during Polar Bear Cam season to weigh in on your frequently asked questions!
Today’s Question: Why do polar bears eat kelp?
While polar bears wait for sea ice to form on Hudson Bay, they can sometimes be seen snacking on kelp, grasses, or berries. Such foods don’t provide the nutrition or calories bears need (only blubber-rich foods like seals can do that!), but it does give them something to do to while away the time.
“We don’t really know why polar bears eat kelp, but they do eat dead, washed-up kelp along the shoreline and sometimes dive for it in the open water in summer in the high Arctic,” said Dr. Ian Stirling, an adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta and polar bear biologist. “Polar bears feed on kelp while floating on their backs like sea otters. There is a study underway right now by the Norwegian Polar Institute, so maybe we will learn a bit more before long.”
