It's polar bear week, and scientists are showcasing their new AI-powered radar that's helping keep both people and polar bears safe. Alysa McCall, director of conservation outreach and a staff scientist at Polar Bears International, joins CBS News 24/7 to explain how the tool works.

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Researchers in Churchill, Canada, have introduced an AI-powered radar system called 'bear-dar' to help protect polar bears and local communities. The technology offers early detection of polar bears approaching populated areas, allowing people to take safety measures and reducing the risk of conflict.

Polar bears are spending more time on land as sea ice melts due to climate change, forcing them to swim longer distances and increasing the danger to both bears and humans. Polar Bears International is leading research and outreach efforts to promote coexistence and conservation, emphasizing the importance of cleaner energy to preserve the species.

How a new AI-powered radar is helping protect polar bears

It is Polar Bear Week. That is the time when polar bears migrate to Churchill Canada as they wait for the sea ice to freeze in the fall. At the same time, scientists are also using a new AI-powered radar to help save the population of polar bears. I want to bring in Alyssa McCall. She is the Director of Conservation Outreach and a staff scientist at Polar Bears International in Manitoba. It's so good to see you, Alyssa. Thanks for having me today. I'm so happy to be doing this segment because polar bears are just one of my favorite animals of all time along with tigers and orcas. What I love about them is just how unique they are. So I want you to first tell our audience about this bear-dar and why it is so necessary to do the work that you're doing. Absolutely. So polar bears are spending more time on land in more places as they lose more access to their sea ice habitat due to climate change. So we want to protect the people that live with polar bears and also keep as many polar bears in the wild as possible. This bear-dar uses AI. It's an early detection system and it can give people ample warning while a polar bear enters a community or a camp. In this way, the people can get in and get safe and they have more time to react to that bear and keep it in the wild. So what I think that people may not realize and what makes polar bears so interesting is that they are the only bear species. I don't know if the guys in the studio know this. They are the only bear species that are considered a marine mammal. Help us understand that. Absolutely. Polar bears have a life that is completely tied to the frozen ocean. So their main prey is seals, and really it's the seal blubber they're after. They're these blubber hunting ice bears really. So that connection to the ocean makes them a marine mammal where all the other seven bear species are of course terrestrial bears. Yeah. One of the things again that I find, and I'm a huge polar bear nerd, so that's why I'm spouting out all of these little nerd tidbits that I know. But you mentioned the blubber that they're going for. Their sense of smell is so strong that they can actually smell seals under something like three feet of ice. They can smell things from almost a mile away. Absolutely. They have the most amazing sense of smell. They're navigating out in this wild, windy, cold landscape, much with their nose. I like to say they almost have a smellscape out on the ice, and it's through that and their curiosity that they're able to find that seal prey under ice or from a long distance away. It's pretty amazing. So I, a couple of years ago, saw a really heartbreaking documentary which showed, as you pointed out, that the sea ice is melting, and I watched these polar bears swimming for miles and miles and miles and miles in the ocean to find sea ice. I wonder how dangerous is it for them now in the era that we are where climate change is so rapidly growing, and how is your organization trying to help conserve these incredible creatures? I can't imagine a world where we don't have polar bears, but we are in danger of that happening. We are. If we did nothing to change our current path, we could lose most of the world's polar bears by the end of the century. You're right. Polar bears are swimming longer distances and more areas, hundreds of kilometers at a time in some places, and this takes a lot of energy for them. As the world warms, the sea ice melts, and they don't have as much access to those seals, and they spend more time on land. That's not good for the polar bears or the people. So at Polar Bears International, we are doing a variety of research projects, some that involve coexistence, some that just further polar bear conservation, and we're out here trying to inspire people and educate them on how amazing polar bears are, which you already know, and also what we can all do to protect them, and a lot of that involves shifting to cleaner energy. So I should just point out to our audience, Alyssa, you already know this, but the video that we're showing are actually live images that are coming into us right now as you and I are on the air showing this majestic polar bear who something has peaked his, can you tell if it's a male? I can't tell, but something has peaked its interest. Absolutely. We think this is a male. So right now I'm sitting in EV Tundra Buggy One on the tundra. We have this polar bear cam with explore.org on this polar bear. So my team right now is watching this bear and there's other bears around. We've seen multiple other bears, mom and cubs this morning. So it might be, it might've smelled somebody nearby and it's trying to check it out. Beautiful, wonderful. Alyssa McCall, thank you for spending some time with us. We appreciate it and thank you for your efforts. Thank you so much for having me. All right, folks, more news after the break. You're streaming CBS News 24 seven.

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How a new AI-powered radar is helping protect polar bears

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