For the first time, Norwegian scientists have recorded how polar bears eat dolphins that have swum to the north. This is reported by New Scientist with reference to Polar Research magazine. Scientists explain this unusual fact by global warming.
Jon Aars of the Norwegian Polar Institute first encountered this behavior of polar bears on Svalbard in April 2014. Near the predator, the scientist discovered two carcasses of white-faced dolphins. According to Aars, the predator caught the dolphins when they swam out from under the ice into the hole, to breathe air (this is the way bears usually catch seals).
Moreover, the bear ate one dolphin, and decided to bury the second in the snow. Thus, the bear prepared supplies for the future. Usually these predators do not hide food debris, scientists say. But, apparently, these animals now have problems with food. The article notes that the bear was very thin with protruding ribs. Lack of food makes polar predators change their habits.
Photo: expert.ru
The article mentions six such cases where bears ate dolphin meat. Dolphins have never been seen in the Svalbard area before. Probably, a flock of marine mammals swam into the warm waters, and then a strong north wind caught them in an ice trap.
There is nothing surprising in the behavior of polar bears, notes the Canadian zoologist Ian Stirling: they are polyphagous predators, ready to eat any prey. It is much more surprising that the dolphins were trapped in ice before they could swim south before winter.