The images show how the bears attempt to freeze the leftovers for later

May be due to warmer waters causing dolphins to travel to area earlier

This is the first time dolphins have been spotted as part of their diet

For the first time, Norwegian scientists have seen polar bears eating dolphins in the Arctic – and they global warming is behind the weird behaviour.

Usually, dolphins only go up north during the summer, but this year warmer warmers have caused them to arrive in spring.

Now scientists have revealed grisly images of famished polar bears killing and eating the creatures, and even freezing their left overs.

For the first time, Norwegian scientists have seen polar bears eating dolphins in the Arctic – and they say global warming is to blame. 'It is likely that new species are appearing in the diet of polar bears due to climate change because new species are finding their way north,' said Jon Aars at the Norwegian Polar Institute

Polar bears feed mainly on seals so Jon Aars at the Norwegian Polar Institute was shocked to see dolphins being devoured by a bear.

'It is likely that new species are appearing in the diet of polar bears due to climate change because new species are finding their way north,' he said.

The first incident he documented was in April 2014 when his team came across a polar feeding on the carcasses of two white-beaked dolphins.

Although dolphins are regularly seen in the Norwegian Arctic in the summer months when the ice has melted, they have never been observed during winter or spring when the sea is usually still covered in sheets of ice.

As the climate warms, the sight of polar bears tucking into strange meals, such as dolphins, may become more common, experts have said

But Norwegian scientists have reported a strong retreat of ice and two nearly ice-free winters in recent years which they said could have attracted the dolphins further north.

They say they probably became trapped by the sudden arrival of dense ice blown into a fjord by strong northerly winds.

Aars said the bear he photographed had probably caught the two dolphins when they surfaced to breathe through a tiny hole in the ice.

'Even if they saw the bear, the dolphins did not necessarily have any other choice,' he said.

In the photos a visibly skinny old male bear devours one of the dolphins and appeared to have stored a second one under snow for later - something which scientist had never seen before.

Dolphins had become trapped too far north possibly due to the almost absence of ice in the region in the past few years and the sudden arrival of ice in April. This image was taken in Smeerenburgfjorden fjord

'We think that he tried to cover the dolphin in snow in the hope that other bears, foxes or birds would have less of a chance of finding it,' said Aars.

'Maybe to be able to eat it a day or two later, once he had digested the first one.'

After the first incident in 2014, a further five cases of dolphins stranded or captured and then eaten by bears have been reported.

THE ARCTIC WILL BE ICE-FREE IN JUST 40 YEARS, WARN EXPERTS The Arctic could be completely free of ice in just 40 years as a result of global warming, one of the world's leading climate change experts has warned earlier this year. Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Oleg Anisimov said there is evidence that temperatures are rising four times faster in the frozen region than the rest of the planet. This means that there will only be open water in the polar region by the 2050s, with nothing more than a few floating icebergs at the North Pole, according to the Russian academic. Professor Anisimov, from the State Hydrological Institute in St Petersburg, gave his stark warning during a lecture in the Sakha Republic - the coldest part of Russia. He forecasts that the region will see temperature rises of up to 7°C within a century. ‘For several reasons, the Arctic climate change is more intense and faster than in other regions. There is a reduction in snow and ice cover, which has a protective function,’ he said. ‘By the middle of the century it may be that the Arctic Ocean will be completely ice free.’ Advertisement

'I don't think that this signifies a great upheaval' in the diet of the carnivores, said Aars.

'It's just that the polar bear is coming into contact with species they have not been used to meeting until now.'

Sitting at the top of the Arctic food chain, polar bears are opportunistic predators that are also known to feed on small whales if the opportunity arises.