The discovery came just before U.S. scientists announced that Arctic sea ice has shrunk to its second-lowest coverage on record.

“To find so many polar bears at sea at one time is extremely worrisome because it could be an indication that as the sea ice on which they live and hunt continues to melt, many more bears may be out there facing similar risk,” said Geoff York, polar bear coordinator for the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Arctic program.

The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center says some of the most dramatic melting has occurred this summer in the Chukchi Sea, where WWF discovered the polar bears without any ice to conduct their usual summertime hunts.

Satellite images of those Arctic waters taken on August 16 showed they were nearly free of all ice in the area where WWF found the bears swimming.

WWF Alaska spokesperson Margaret Williams said only 12 polar bears were spotted in open waters during the 16 years between 1987 and 2003.

Williams also noted that four drowned bears were observed in 2004, when a NASA satellite detected a “startling” decrease in ice cover that became even more expansive last summer.

Photo: Geoff York - World Wildlife Fun