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There were more than 300 nests in the bird colony when the polar bear arrived.

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When it meandered off with a belly full of eggs only 24 nests remained, say scientists who witnessed the “near total” destruction of nests on the bird colony off Baffin Island.

It was far from an isolated event, the team from Environment Canada and Carleton University reported Tuesday.

Hungry polar bears are becoming a bigger threat to seabirds in the Canadian Arctic than traditional nest robbers like foxes and gulls, the researchers say in a study.

Polar bears are now seven times more common in bird colonies in the Hudson Strait area between Northern Quebec and Baffin Island than they were in the 1980s, the study found.

It says the increased predation is clearly linked to the shrinking Arctic ice season, which is almost two months shorter than was 30 years ago.

“Substantial open-water areas are now routinely encountered in May and the near shore seasonal ice environment upon which polar bears depend has been drastically altered,” the study says.