Hudson Bay polar bears are ready to head back to the sea ice & catch up (really just catch) with a few seals. Some cooler temperatures now so that bodes well. Many bears will have depleted their energy stores (using ca. 1 kg/day) so they need to start feeding again soon.

New polar bear paper. Largely confirmation of what we thought. Evolution & species divergence is less like a tree & more like a vine: lots of intertwining over time until new species can't produce viable offspring. Polar bears & brown bears haven't been separated long enough yet.

Hudson Bay polar bears are waiting for sea ice. Churchill is cooling now but freeze-up will be a fair ways off. The bears are using up ca. 1 kg (2 lb) of body mass/day while fasting. Most bears were in good shape this year so it's looking good (if freeze-up comes soon).

Hudson Bay polar bears are all waiting for freeze-up. They feed little or not at all on land & use ca. 1 kg (2.2 lb)/day: it's not starving but a controlled state. For most bears 4-5 months is fine. >6 months & mortality creeps up due to starvation if energy reserves are too low.

Western Hudson Bay polar bears all came "home". Most bears managed to stay on the ice longer than recent years & this bodes well. Caveat: it take 4 years of good conditions to recruit a cub to being an independent subadult. I'll take a year like this anytime (as would the bears).