When you think about swimming, the first thing that comes to mind is the Olympic champion, Michael Phelps. But what about other land mammals?
There are 8 species of bears that live around water. All of them can be found in many different habitats across the world.
Polar Bears are the quickest swimmers among them but all bears can be good swimmers.
One of the major reasons why polar bears are the best swimmers is because they are marine animals, which means they are very comfortable in cold water. They are also able to adapt to the arctic climate, which is tough on most other mammals.
Another factor that makes polar bears the fastest swimmers is their long nose, head, and torso which help them to navigate the water without much resistance. Plus, a thick layer of fat which may be up to 4.3 inches helps them to stay warm and float easily in the water.
They are also very good at holding their breath underwater which allows them to catch their prey from ice floes. This is called aquatic stalking and it’s a tactic that is used by polar bears to hunt seals.
They have been observed to swim up to 48 kilometers ( 30 miles) at a time, which is very impressive. There has been a recorded case of a polar bear that swam 354 km 220 miles and several others that have swum continuously for 10 days straight.
