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Subject: Spirit bears From: kittenz posted Fri, Nov 6 2009, 2:26pm  There is a stunning video in this link that shows a Spirit Bear fishing. These are not albinos but are a color morph of the American Black Bear. The accompanying story says that a study found Spirit Bears (aka Kermode Bears) to be 30% more efficient catching salmon during the day than ordinary black Black Bears. I wonder if this is how Polar Bears got started. They are thought to have split off from Brown Bears about 200K years ago. Maybe a white color morph of Brown Bear appeared, that was even more efficient at fishing and catching seals than ordinary Browns because of its color, and they eventually became the polar bears that we have today. Spirit Bear with ordinary black Black Bear Subject: Re: Spirit bears From: Bri_E posted Fri, Nov 6 2009, 3:57pm  There is a National Geographic show about bears in the Pacific Northwest (I might be mistaken, but I think that's where its filmed), and they talk about the Spirit Bears. If you haven't seen it, it's worth a look, imo. Subject: Re: Spirit bears From: Stu posted Sat, Nov 7 2009, 8:28am  I just read that, good post. This is interesting, too. Polar bear plus grizzly equals - Subject: Re: Spirit bears From: kittenz posted Sun, Nov 8 2009, 7:44am  Yes, I agree, that is very interesting. I think that hybridization occurs more often in the wild than we know. The role that hybridization plays in speciation is probably very small, but it does occur from time to time, without any human intervention whatsoever. Subject: Re: Spirit bears From: Z.Z. posted Sun, Nov 8 2009, 9:27am  "a study found Spirit Bears (aka Kermode Bears) to be 30% more efficient catching salmon during the day than ordinary black Black Bears." That makes sense. Their white color blends with the sunlight better, and bounces light that bounces off the water as well, making them less likely to cast a dark shadow which scare the fish away. Awesome pic, that is one beautiful bear. Subject: And Glacier bears... From: KodiakKeith posted Sun, Nov 8 2009, 2:40pm  There is another little-known black bear variant known as the Glacier bear. This guy is native to the St. Elias Range in Alaska. The color varies from bluish/grizzled to gray to almost white. Glacier bear picture and information (Ursus emmonsi) Subject: Re: Spirit bears From: C. Short posted Wed, Nov 18 2009, 9:42am  Bears are such magnificent creatures. Thanks for posting this! Chris.

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