The longest recorded nonstop swim a polar bear has ever made is 426 miles over nine days straight. Watch out Michael Phelps - that's equivalent to the distance between Washington, D.C., and Boston. During the swim, the female bear lost 22 percent of her body weight. Studies have predicted more long-distance swims are in polar bears' future due to the climate change in the Arctic and the shrinking ice caps. These bears are one of the animals most affected by climate change, with the land literally melting beneath their paws.

Female polar bears typically give birth to two cubs or “twins”. The two cubs stay with her for more than two years until they can hunt and survive on their own. Females receive no help from their solitary male mates. The breeding season starts in March and ends in June, each year. The chubs enter therefore the world during the months of November, December and January.

The average lifespan of the bear in the wild is 15 to 18 years. Polar bears can live until they’re 30 years old, but few bears live for that long. The oldest polar bear in the Artic lived for 32 years, and the oldest known polar bear in a zoological park lived for 45 years. Read more about the Svalbard polar bear and learn more about how Polar Bears live and hunt.

Polar bears are actually black, not white. Under their white fur - which is great camouflage - polar bears have black skin to better soak in the sun's warmth. Fur even grows on the bottom of their claws, which protects against cold surfaces.

In Norway the polar bear are called “isbjørn”, meaning ice bear. In Russia they call the bear “beliy medved” meaning “the white bear”. The Latin name for polar bears is "ursus maritimus," which means sea bear. In Inuit mythology, the polar bear is called Pihoqahiak, the "ever-wandering one." The translation to the words for “polar bear” are quite broad. Some of them include lord of the Arctic and Old man in the fur cloak.