The Ice Is Moving
Polar bears have seasonal movements in Alaska, and this is all because of the regional ice dynamics. The polar bears tend to remain with the pack ice as it moves north in the summertime, which means they spend many months of the year at sea. That is when the ice will melt. You could also see some polar bears along the Beaufort Sea coast in Alaska as they have been known to rest here on land until the shore-fast ice develops along the coast. This action happens in late fall, and they move on when they have platforms for seal hunting.
Because there’s very limited freshwater since it’s frozen, polar bears can produce their water by metabolizing the fat from seal blubber, so they don’t need to worry about also finding water. In areas where the ice completely melts in the summer, polar bears need to move to land and wait until the sea freezes again, or they look for a place farther north where the water froze all year-round and is easier to hunt for seals. Adapting so easy to temperatures helps it survive in hotter months, although it’s harder for them to track when there’s no snow to hide in.