Ursus Maritimus
Sea Bear
Nanuk
Polar Bear
My fascination with bears began when I had a close encounter with one. We were face to face as I was sitting in my car watching a sow and her cub. I could see the blackness of his eyes. My heart started pounding, and from that moment on I wanted to know all about them.
The most ferocious and destructive of all bears is the Sea Bear. Native hunters consider Nanuk to be wise, powerful and "almost a man." Some called him "the great lonely roamer." Scientist Alison Ames concluded: the great white bears are just as smart as apes. The dominate bore stands between eight and nine feet. Weighing between 750 and 1400 pounds. The submissive sows are much smaller weighing between 300 to 550 pounds. The life span of polar bears in the wild can be twenty-five years or more. I could keep giving you facts on the Sea Bear, like the fur is not really white but clear and hollow, their skin is actually black, they could tear off a mans head with just one swipe of its massive 12 inch forepaws, they can swim more than 60 miles without rest, they cover their noses with their forepaws so that their prey does not see the black of their nose, but that is not the purpose of this page.
The Sea Bear is the WORLD'S largest land predator. We as the largest destructor, but yet the strongest protector, need to save the polar bears habitat. Degradation to polar bear habitat is currently of more concern than effects of hunting on populations. Human activities, especially those associated with oil and gas exploration and extraction pose the greatest immediate threat. Oil exploration and drilling activities in denning areas could cause bears to den in less suitable areas. Oil spills from offshore drilling and transportation of oil through ice covered waters could contaminate bears and reduce the insulating value of their fur, or adversely affect animals in the food chain below them. Severe environmental conditions would hinder or prevent containment of a spill, and currents and ice movement could distribute oil over large areas.
