Wednesday, March 3, 2021

POLAR BEARS FROM SEA WORLD IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

Before we moved to Virginia a little over 30 years ago, we used to live in San Diego.  One of our favorite places to go to was Sea World. Quite a while ago now, our son found an old photo album of the last trip we made.  I started cataloguing all the old photos and putting them on a portable hard drive.  Among the photos were the polar bears. That day they were very active and we thoroughly enjoyed their underwater antics. Our son took all the photos shared today.
We originally moved to San Diego from Virginia when our son was ten years' old. Hubs was still in the navy and on his very first day at his new job he dropped us off at Sea World. We arranged to meet him at the end of the day. It was the first time we had been there and the day was magical, the time just flew by. 
We walked over every square inch and so many shows and exhibits, so many things that first time and we couldn't wait to share our day with his Dad. We told him all about it on the ride home and it wasn't long afterwards that the three of us went back. 
There is a great link here designed for children, and it has a wonderful map of where polar bears live in their natural habitat.
The Polar Bear's scientific name is Ursus maritimus, and they live between 25 to 30 years.
A polar bear's skin is black and its fur is transparent with a hollow core that reflects and refracts light from the sun and off the snow, making it appear white.  This adaptation helps polar bears keep warm as their fur reflects heat from the sun down the hair shaft, so that it can be absorbed by their black skin.
I found that information here.
A polar bear asks another bear for something, such as food, through a nose-to-nose greeting.  The guest bear will approach slowly, circle around a carcass, then delicately touch the feeding bear's nose to ask for permission to share.  I found that information here.
Polar bears are the largest bear species in the world, growing to a maximum length of 8.5 feet (260 cm) and weight of 1,543 pounds (700 kg), with males growing about twice as large as females.  I came by that information here.
Polar bears clean themselves by rolling in the snow.  Staying clean also helps the insultating properties of their fur, so after feeding they will often freshen up by taking a swim or roll in the snow.  Rolling in the snow also helps cool them off when they get too hot.  That information I found at this site.
At the same website I learned that they are quick on their feet.  Polar bears can reach speeds of up to 25 mph (40km) on land.

Quite an amazing animal who are sadly endangered out in the wild.  The biggest threat to polar bears is shrinking sea-ice as climate change is causing it to melt earlier and forming later each year, which means the polar bears have less time to hunt on top of the sea-ice. 

I hope you have enjoyed these old photos of the polar bears.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.




32 comments:

  1. I found this info about their skin and fur just fascinating! I read it to Phil, neither one of us knew it. I would love to see transparent fur just by itself out of the sun and snow to see what it looks like!

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    1. Me too, I didn't know that before I read this. Thanks Ginny :)

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  2. I adore polar bears and ache to know that they (and so many others) have moved into the threatened category.

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    1. I feel the same way EC, I hope we can turn things around :)

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  3. They really are beautiful bears but it is sad, as with so many other animals that they are endangered because of climate change and/or poachers. Keep safe Diane

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    1. They certainly are beautiful, I agree :) Do hope something can be done to protect them. I read a famous quote, animals go and we will follow.

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  4. Fun images! I worry about the polar bears.

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  5. Hello, Denise
    The Polar bears are one of my favorite zoo animals. Great post and photos. Take care, enjoy your day!

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    1. Thank you Eileen, mine too. I love seeing them play. You take care and enjoy your day also :)

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  6. The polar bear is unusual, beautiful and dangerous. Thank you for interesting information and beautiful photos. Have a good day:)

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    1. Yes, all three :) You are very welcome Lucyna and thank you, you have a good day also.

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  7. Marvelous photos and it sounds like that day so many years ago was magical. What a wonderful memory. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. You are very welcome Carol and it was, very much so :) Thank you!

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  8. They really are amazing! Thanks for sharing the photos and the info about them Denise.

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    1. You are very welcome Martha, I'm happy you enjoyed :)

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  9. The military affords many to live in lots of places on our planet. What fun memories you shared from San Diego. Hope March is starting out well for you.

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    1. It does indeed. I wish you the same Ellen and thank you :)

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  10. I am truly glad that I do not have to take a bath by Rolling in snow haha and I just absolutely love love love all these underwater pictures they're just amazing and even the pictures are magical so I can only imagine how it felt to be able to see it in real time! If I live close enough to it I would have gone a lot also. Did not know about the black skin but it makes good sense because black gets really hot and the sun it's their fur must be like a mirror reflecting the sun rays

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    1. You and me both Sandra :) Glad you enjoyed the info.

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  11. Lovely memories of the polar bears at SeaWorld. It is sad they are threatened in their environment.

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    1. Very sad Christine, but living in hope that the animals can be saved :)

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  12. I'm always interested in polar bears from My arctic days. I never saw a live one but had two babies in my house one time.

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    1. What a fantastic experience that must have been Red. That would have been magical also :)

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  13. Hello. Denise,
    A truly amazing place to visit and thank you for sharing, so much information, so much I was not aware of, so sad they are threatened by Global Warming.
    Hope you are all safe and well,
    John

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    1. Hello John and thank you :) Let's hope something can be done for them and all animals.

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  14. I loved seeing them and learned from your research. Thank you Denise! Your son was a good photographer at that young age! Brought back some memories also... we spent a Christmas vacation camping in San Diego with our four and we all loved Sea World. (It was the year when they all passed the age of believing in Santa, so we took a trip instead. But their stockings got filled and showed up magically on Christmas morning. So then the youngest one wasn’t so sure any more.)

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    1. Thank you Sallie, and you are very welcome. Son has always had a good eye for taking photos. I love to get them and he sends them often from his walks with our daughter-in-law :) Always happy to get them, especially if they include themselves :)

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