Hundreds of Polar Bears Meet Up And Feast On Dead Whale

Polar Bears, the biggest hungriest b*****ds outside of Santa Claus to call the world’s frostiest, northern-most environs home, are usually solitary animals content to ignore their mates and find their own food.

But what happens when you add a dead whale to the eco-system?

A f***ing Polar Bear Party, that’s what! Throw in the rotting carcass of a gigantic cetacean and polar bears are all like, “As the Japanese say, itadakimasu, mother***ers!” 

Just recently, almost 250 polar bears were spotted gorging themselves on a beached whale carcass on Wrangel Island off the coast of Russia.

The circle of life. Credit: A.Gruzdev/Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve

To put that into perspective, there are estimated to be only twenty to twenty-five thousand polar bears left in existence and an entire percentile of the population came to chow down on the tasty, tasty bowhead whale.

Bowhead whales, native to Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, can grow up to 18 metres long and weigh almost a hundred tonnes, so when one lands there’s plenty of food for everyone.

If you’re a polar bear, that’s a bloody good thing. As you know, the world recently choked back a collective tear when footage of a starving polar bear rummaging through a rusted bin was released by National Geographic.

It’s like when you found out one of your schoolmates had tim tams in his bag. Credit: A.Gruzdev/Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve

Unfortunately, polar bears, as apex predators already deemed vulnerable, are in danger of seeing their numbers almost halved due to the effects of climate change so you can understand the reasons behind this pilgrimage. Polar bears usually have to hunt and catch their prey in some of the most challenging conditions on Earth. No wonder then that the whale buffet was enjoyed by so many of the ursine predators.

Apparently, the sight was witnessed by tourists on the Akademik Shokalskiy who initially thought the mass of white animals was a flock of sheep. Thankfully, the sight of all those ‘sheep’ didn’t put them to sleep and as they approached Wrangel Island they realised they were seeing hungry polar bears travelling to the bowhead carcass en masse.

You can see how hungry some of them are. It’s a shame the food will only last them a short period of time. Credit: A.Gruzdev/Wrangel Island State Nature Reserve

Nature Reserve rangers counted no less than 230 polar bears – some with cubs – at the banquet.  Considering their usual solitary nature, this is truly a remarkable sight.  Those who witnessed are sure to remember it for years to come.

Unfortunately there is no video of this, but have a look at this polar bear hunting a seal below…

H/T: Ladbible.