Bears can lose 1 kilogram of body mass per day when they do not have access to sea ice to hunt seals.
The study group now plans to evaluate during which period the impact on bears will be most felt, according to the ice forecasts. p>
This reality, highlighted by researchers, is increasingly felt in Nunavik, on the east side of Hudson Bay and the Bay of Ungava.
This year in this region, the sea ice cover formed much later than expected. Inuit observers see this as a direct sign of climate change.
It is not like it used to be. We have early springs, late winters, summers are hotter every year. It’s something we’ve never seen in our lives. […] This is very worrying for the Inuit, explains Tommy Palliser, director of the Nunavik Regional Marine Wildlife Committee.
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The polar bear uses the ice cover to hunt seals. (Archive photo)
Tommy Palliser also points out that the loss of ice cover is already having repercussions on polar bears, who sometimes should have difficult to eat.
He fears that bears will come closer and closer to villages in search of food, as was the case cases for the first time in Kuujjuaq last January.
It's a security issue, when they come to your community, they are not afraid. They are hungry. That's a big change. They used to hunt on the ice in November. Now the ice forms in December or January, he adds.
Nunavik is located south of the range of polar bear, its bear population would therefore be more affected than bear populations further north.