Polar Bears Are On The Move, And They Will Eat 'Anything'

Polar bears in Canada are on the move for their annual migration and it is the time of year when they will "eat anything."

During this time of year, a population of polar bears begin gathering on the shores of the Hudson Bay near Churchill in Canada.

The polar bears return to the bay every year when it freezes over for winter, to feast on seals, and scientists gather to watch the migration take place and study the polar bears' movements.

They even set up a live stream for the public to follow. Polar Bear week, which takes place from October 30 to November 5, honors the unique gathering.

"Over the summer, the bears spread out along the coast and inland but right now they're all starting to slowly move toward the coast, getting ready in anticipation for that ice coming back," Alysa McCall, director of conservation outreach and a staff scientist at Polar Bears International, told Newsweek.

"So we start to see larger numbers congregating as it gets colder, and they're a little more active. And we just basically sit and we watch the bears until the ice returns. It's wonderful to watch."

But as climate change intensifies, the Hudson Bay ice that forms the polar bears' habitat is not returning as quickly as it used to. This means there is an increased likelihood of bears being forced onto the land, where they will wander into communities at a time when they are at their hungriest.

"This could be a tough time of year for human conflict and coexistence. This is the time of year when these polar bears are hungriest and getting a little hungrier. If the bay freezes up in a good amount of time, great. But, if it gets delayed then we increase the likelihood that these polar bears are going to go searching for something to eat," McCall said.

"So their number one prey is seals, but truly they're still a bear. They will eat anything they can and they have incredible noses. They're very curious and there's a likelihood that they could wander into communities. We are seeing an increase in this across the Arctic. And we do expect this issue to keep increasing across the Arctic as sea ice keeps changing."

Polar bears have a reputation for being aggressive. While this is only true if they feel provoked or threatened, it can pose challenges to communities living near their habitat.

Residents who live in Churchill, which sits on the western shore of the Hudson Bay, are used to polar bears roaming nearby. While the community has measures in place to make coexistence easier, according to Polar Bear International, safety is never 100 percent guaranteed.

But McCall said this year has been better than most as the ice froze on time, meaning there was less chance of hungry bears wandering into neighborhoods.

"So [this year] we're hoping people get to see still healthy looking bears. The media about polar bears is often doom and gloom, like there was a bear in the community that got euthanized or something. But we can just show hey, there's still a lot of happy bears out there and we want to keep them happy and keep them out on that sea ice," McCall said.

McCall said scientists that monitor the bears every year are always "very honest" about what's going on.

"There is a lot of work to do to keep these bears in the Arctic but we know we can and there's a lot of good news stories. We are pretty optimistic," she said.