Antarctica is generally colder than the Arctic. They would almost certainly be stuck along the coastlines of Antarctica like the penguins are, since the interior averages temperatures that rival the coldest ones ever recorded in the Arctic. They should be fine there, but then that means they have a very limited distribution and that penguins and seals consequently are always forced to share an environment with the polar bears. Because they’re not used to the polar bears, their populations would likely be destroyed, leaving the polar bears to starve. Unlike in the Arctic, too, they would have nowhere to retreat if their food supply ran out. Outward is hundreds of kilometers of ocean, and inward is hundreds of kilometers of unsurvivable desert.
Anon has a plan
Submitted 10 months ago by Early_To_Risa@sh.itjust.works to greentext@sh.itjust.works
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/aef0a2a3-f7f7-41d6-a4b7-d67582c5a86f.jpeg
Comments
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Monument@lemmy.sdf.org 10 months ago
they would have nowhere to retreat if their food supply ran out.
Um. Hello? There are scientists there.
Which means scientific papers, then tourists, then garbage and a symbiotic relationship, then the eventual domestication of polar bears.
Not, you know, the international scientific community treating scientists like cats.Warl0k3@lemmy.world 10 months ago
“Return Eenie or we feed another physicist to the bears. We know you fuckers took him.”
SGforce@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Always wondered what it would have been like had we domesticated these things
These limbs were adapted for efficient long-distance pacing, rather than the explosive acceleration and high speed pursuits
Terrifying
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Idk, I think polar bears would domesticate the scientists before scientists domesticated the polar bears.
Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Etymologists crying and shaking right now at the thought of Antarctica (meaning: without bears) gaining the one animal it’s not supposed to have
SirSamuel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I read that as entomologist for a second and was really confused
Figured it had something to do with fleas
John_CalebBradberton@lemmy.world 10 months ago
This comment sent me down a rabbit hole. I had no idea the arctic is called that because it was the Greek for ‘of the bear’ because they used Ursa Major to guide them north. And the the arctic is the most northerly point.
Fucking wild. Mind blown.
cevn@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Wdf how are we just learning this?! Can’t they teach it with the continent names??
Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 months ago
And it’s a hilarious coincidence that it resulted in the southern most point being Antarctica, as it just happens to be the only continent without bears.
Dragonstaff@leminal.space 10 months ago
I’m not saying this will definitely reverse the Earth’s polarity and doom all life on earth, but do we really want to take that chance?!
SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Looks at earth
Well, it probably won’t get much worse, and if it does it’ll at least be interesting to see.
RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I’d say that if all you want to do is scare the shit out of some scientists in Antarctica you probably only need 1 polar bear
hypnicjerk@lemmy.world 10 months ago
or a dog
echodot@feddit.uk 10 months ago
Nah let’s really confuse them. A lion.
HonoraryMancunian@lemmy.world 10 months ago
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Yup, and there’s a lot less risk of complete disruption to the normal food chain. One polar bear will eventually die, a dozen will probably take over.
celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
It would work until the polar bear population collapses in a couple generations due to inbreeding.
fuckingkangaroos@lemm.ee 10 months ago
And once they eat all the penguins and starve
MirthfulAlembic@lemmy.world 10 months ago
St. Matthew Island with polar bears instead of reindeer.
funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
4 million buy a freight boat
I work in supply chain but not a complete expert but the smallest cheapest ship I can find for sale is this one for $6MM, doesn’t include licensing, crew, insurance and the dreyage/accessorial on live polar bears is gonna cost you big
petersr@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Does it really need to be a big container ship?
Didn’t people transport stuff in smaller boats back in the day?
(You still make a valid point though)
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Idk, polar bears are really heavy, and it takes a long time to get from one end of the planet to the other, so you want something secure to store the bears in. That means a bigger ship that can handle angry bears hurling themselves at the walls of their cage, because they will wake up during the journey, and they won’t be happy.
funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
they did specify freight! although getting The Cutty Sark back in working order is probably even more costly.
TotalFat@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I’ve recently learned that bears absolutely love cocaine. I’m sure that’s relevant here somehow.
Wooki@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Thats why polar bears have white coats
felbane@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I thought they had white coats because they take their methamphetamine production lab very seriously.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
They’re actually clear coats with hollow fur, which means they always have a way to consume said cocaine. They’ve basically evolved to be addicts.
Crashumbc@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I saw that documentary! That is boundary pushing science
Ibaudia@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I think the penguins would learn to just swim away, and the bears would starve since they would need to expend a lot of effort for a small bird versus the calorie-dense seals they’re used to.
Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world 10 months ago
blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
That is a king penguin, not even the tallest subspecies (emperors are taller), but what you’re looking at is an optical illusion because the penguin is much closer to the camera than the humans.
TunaCowboy@lemmy.world 10 months ago
desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
plenty of polar bears eat salmon
No_Ones_Slick_Like_Gaston@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Polar or grizzly bears… not sure salmon roams the north regions without rivers.
figjam@midwest.social 10 months ago
So I’m hearing that we move some seals first…
GBU_28@lemm.ee 10 months ago
They’d need to ambush the flock when they were on land, ensuring they could corner several before the penguins make it to water
WaterSword@discuss.tchncs.de 10 months ago
Would work until the penguin pop. is too small and then they start dying out again
Iheartcheese@lemmy.world 10 months ago
So then part of the program needs to be penguin Viagra to keep the numbers up
Plastic_Ramses@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Crude dark matter should do the job.
Penguin spanish fly.
KazuchijouNo@lemy.lol 10 months ago
Listen to this. How about we get a big boat, put the surviving penguins inside and ship them to the Artic!
WaterSword@discuss.tchncs.de 10 months ago
Ahh the good old switcheroo
SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
This reminds me of a friend that once proposed that if we really wanted to mess with Europe we could release a few packs of coyotes
therealjcdenton@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
Then you have a penguin population crisis
blockheadjt@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Tbf we already have that due to glacier melt
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Don’t penguins already have to survive orcas?
SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Yeah, in the water. Giving them another apex predator on land won’t make them happy, I’m sure.
FiskFisk33@startrek.website 10 months ago
would have to be quite a few bears to avoid heavy inbreeding
SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 10 months ago
No, you must keep the bloodline pure.
scutiger@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Okay, McPoyle.
Honytawk@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
Apparently it is 12 creatures, 6 male and 6 female, that is needed for a genetically diverse enough group to repopulate.
superkret@feddit.org 10 months ago
That depends entirely on what creature you’re talking about.
Zoidsberg@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
A couple of birth defects wouldn’t matter much if you’re walking around a penguin buffet. They’d be fine.
fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I was really hoping OP wanted to drop the polar bears on a tropical island. For science.
SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 10 months ago
only if you can find some weird magnetic anomaly and plane crash survivors
Dragonstaff@leminal.space 10 months ago
They’d probably just turn back into grizzlies eventually.
Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
It depends on the goal. For example it work if you want to render every penguin species endangered or worse.
feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Neal Stephenson book.
Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 10 months ago
Sounds reasonable.
pewgar_seemsimandroid@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
people who wanted penguin in Minecraft after not voting in the mob vote:
mcqtom@lemmy.world 10 months ago
You may find you struggle with step 1.
echodot@feddit.uk 10 months ago
I’ve been trying to do step one for years. But my bastard relatives refuse to die, and also refuse to be rich. Selfish I call it.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
And then my siblings also think they’re entitled to some of the non-existent inheritance. So many selfish people in my family…
Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 10 months ago
Zoos tend to struggle with Step 7 and they have far better conditions than a beat up converted freighter
Lev_Astov@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Also step 2. $4MM is not enough to run the kind of vessel needed to go to the poles.