Polar bears and orcas do not appear to have any direct predator-prey relationship. While both inhabit the same environmental conditions they seldom go after each other. However, since both are apex predators as well as opportunistic in nature—they are most likely to look at other as a potential food source. You may not find any video or still in which polar bears are eating orcas but scientists do believe that the Arctic bears always feast on orcas if they find one along the way. Let’s find out how do polar bears eat Orcas in the Arctic Sea.
Do Polar Bears Eat Orcas?
Yes, polar bears do consume orcas but in a way they prey on ringed seals. Orcas are bigger, much heavier than seals and any other marine prey. Besides, killer whales are supreme predators so polar bears find it extremely hard to kill animal such as this. Nonetheless, polar bears are scavengers too and whenever they smell large dead whale lying ashore they just go for it.
Read More: Do Killer Whales Eat Polar Bears?
- So, this shows that polar bears fancy eating dead orcas. Another reason why they prefer to eat orcas is that it provides a large quantity of meat—enough to satisfy 15 – 20 bears at a time.
- That is why you’ll see as many as 20 polar bears feeding on a single carcass of a killer whale. Having said that however orcas can never make up the polar bear’s top menu and so polar bears don’t really rely on them.
- Thus, we can conclude that polar bears eat orcas perhaps not as a regular part of their diet. But if they get one, they’ll eat one!
