“They are the most genetically isolated population of polar bears anywhere on the planet,” Beth Shapiro, another co-author of the study, said.
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We just didn’t know how special they were,” Dr Laidre said. “We knew there were some bears in the area from historical records and indigenous knowledge. “We wanted to survey this region because we didn’t know much about the polar bears in southeast Greenland, but we never expected to find a new subpopulation living there,” Kristin Laidre, a polar scientist and lead author of the study, said in a statement. Researchers said studying this population could shed light on the future of the species in the warming Arctic. It sheds light on this isolated population of a few hundred polar bears that are genetically distinct and uniquely adapted to this environment. The study was published in the journal Science on Thursday by scientists, including those from the University of Washington in the US. While most polar bears rely on sea ice to hunt seals, scientists found this distinct, isolated population uses freshwater ice at the marine terminal glacial fronts as a platform to hunt seals year-round. A previously unknown population of polar bears that adapt to limited sea ice access due to global warming by hunting from freshwater ice pouring into the ocean from glaciers have been discovered by scientists.