polarbears.

Getty Images Everyone knows that polar bears are good swimmers, but the amazing journey of this bear beats all. In an incredible feat of strength and endurance, one female polar bear swam through the icy waters north of Alaska nonstop for almost 10 days, covering 420 miles as she searched for drift-ice hunting grounds. Researchers say it's the longest swim by a polar bear ever recorded. Scientists in the arctic were able to track the epic swim through the Beaufort Sea because the female was wearing a GPS radio collar. "We are in awe that an animal that spends most of its time on the surface of sea ice could swim constantly for so long in water so cold," the leader researcher told the ...

Steven Kazlowski, solent This cute cub will have no problem when it comes time to hit the dance floor at the polar bear prom; his mom is teaching him all the right dance moves at an early age. This mama polar bear and her little one indulged in a little playtime on the ice in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, reports the Daily Mail. The cub climbed in and out of the holes in the newly-forming ice and learned how to slide across the slippery surface, mastering skills that are no doubt important for his education. But hey, who says learning can't be fun? ...

Another week, another bear-cub zoo debut. "We'll see your 5-month-old panda and raise you a 3-month-old polar bear," Japan taunted San Diego this week. "Not fair," San Diego's Yun Zi protested after watching the video below. "That polar bear gets her own stuffed toy polar bear to play with. That's adorable. How am I supposed to compete with that?" The dejected panda cub then waddled off into a patch of bamboo to eat his feelings. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy ...

Barcroft / Fame Pictures After nearly a dozen visits to the Philadelphia Zoo, photographer Michael S. Confer had almost given up on getting a photo of swimming polar bears, but then he pulled off a stunner: an amazing shot of a polar bear named Coldilocks giving him a wave, reports the Telegraph. A longtime member of the Philadelphia Zoo, Confer, 39, decided last year that he would try to take a photo of the polar bears swimming in their exhibit. With the magnificent bears' recent addition to the endangered species list, Confer thought the photograph would be timely. "The zoo is about 10 minutes from our house and every month, my wife and I would take our daughter for a visit," Confer ...