Habitat

• Polar bears inhabit Arctic sea ice, water, islands, and continental coastlines.
• Polar bears prefer sea ice habitat with leads, next to continental coastlines or islands(Stirling, 1993).
• Leads are water channels or cracks through ice which may remain open (ice free) for only a few minutes to several months, depending upon weather conditions and water currents.
• Polar bears hunt seals in the leads, using sea ice as a platform.
• The "Arctic ring of life" is a biologically rich system of leads and
  polynyas. It runs parallel to the polar basin coastline.
• Polynyas are areas of water, surrounded by ice, that remain open throughout the year due to winds, upwellings, and tidal currents.
• Polynyas are important breathing and feeding areas for wintering or migrating marine mammals and birds.
• Some polar bears spend part of the year on land.
• Polar bears in warmer climates may become stranded on land. In summer, sea ice melts along the coastlines, and pack ice (floating sea ice, or floes, not connected to land) moves north.
• Most pregnant females spend the autumn and winter on land in maternity dens.
• Air temperatures in the Arctic average -34C (-29F) in winter and 0C (32F) in summer. The coldest area in winter is northeastern Siberia, where the temperature has been recorded as low as -69C (-92F). The warmest areas in summer are inland regions of Siberia, Alaska, and Canada where temperatures can reach as high as 32C (90F).
• The ocean temperatures in the Arctic are about -1.5C (29F) in summer. In winter the ocean temperatures can drop to -2C (28F), at which point seawater freezes.