USGS Releases Video of Arctic from a Polar Bear's Point of View

The U.S. Geological Survey has released one-of-its-kind video footage of Arctic sea ice taken from a polar bear's perspective.

Researchers at USGS and their colleagues attached video camera collars to four female polar bears on the sea ice, north of Prudhoe Bay in Alaska in April 2014. The data will help researchers understand how the bears are coping with Arctic ice loss.

"We deployed two video cameras in 2013, but did not get any footage because the batteries weren't able to handle the Arctic temperatures," said Dr. Todd Atwood, research leader for the USGS Polar Bear Research Program. "We used different cameras this year, and we are thrilled to see that the new cameras worked."

The video footage could help scientists understand polar bear behavior. Previous research on polar bear interaction with environment was limited to data from radio and satellite telemetry, USGS said in a news release.

"None of us have ever seen anything like this before," Atwood told LiveScience. "It's a 'gee-whiz' feeling, seeing through the eyes of a polar bear."

The video collars were on the bears for only about 8-10 days. According to Anthony Pagano, the data could help researchers understand how polar bears hunt, eat, rest and walk. Anthony Pagano is University of California Santa Cruz PhD student.

At one point in the video, a bear is seen playing soccer with its food.

"The fact that they appear to be playing around with their food, we're not sure what that means," Atwood told the Associated Press.

The research could also help scientists find how the bears are responding to ice thinning in the Arctic.

Polar bears or Ursus maritimus are classified as marine mammals because they spend most of their lives in water. Research has shown that the population of this species of bears is declining due to climate change.