In terms of travel, “for a polar bear, that’s nothing,” says Steven Amstrup. He’s a zoologist who was not involved in the study. But he knows these bears; he’s chief scientist of the conservation organization Polar Bears International, based in Bozeman, Mont. “Apparently,” he says, those southeast Greenland bears are “finding enough resources there that they don’t have to make these huge, big movements.”
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It’s not entirely surprising that polar bears have settled at the fronts — or toes — of glaciers in the fjords, Amstrup says. “Oftentimes, the toes of these glaciers are very productive areas,” he says, meaning rich sources of food. Glacial meltwater can flush nutrients from deeper in the ocean up toward the water’s surface. This can draw fish to the area. Seals that go out to feed on these fish, he suspects, might end up as a bear’s dinner.