The task is complicated by the fact that there isn't one monolithic polar bear population.

WSJ: Are Polar Bears Really Disappearing?

It's easy to have a whiplash reaction: Don't feed the polar bears.

CNN: Don't feed the (polar) bears

"Homeless people don't care about polar bears, " said the Rev.

CNN: Pedal power is fueling green awareness

But after months of reporting and hundreds of bear sightings, I kept running up against an inconvenient truth: There were a lot of well-meaning, well-credentialed scientists, wildlife officers and local experts who simply didn't believe that polar bears were one ice cube away from extinction.

WSJ: Are Polar Bears Really Disappearing?

With all that as the backdrop, feeding polar bears doesn't sound so crazy, however sad and potentially irreversible it may be.

CNN: Don't feed the (polar) bears

He said he's not a sentimental person -- he doesn't get attached to an individual polar bear the way he does to his golden retriever.

CNN: Don't feed the (polar) bears

He doesn't want to have to feed the polar bears, much less euthanize them.

CNN: Don't feed the (polar) bears

Coke says it hasn't tweaked the taste of its cola and that protecting polar bears is a worthwhile initiative.

WSJ: A Frosty Reception for Coca-Cola's White Christmas Cans

They invariably do so accompanied by the audible gasp of the paying customers on board who shuffle around the boat like a clumsy congregation of penguins, grateful that they won't be asked to leave the relative warmth of their polar suits.

BBC: The perfect trip: Norway

I've developed somewhat of a polar sense, and I sense there is something afoot that I don't much like.

CNN: Polar blog: 'There's something afoot in the Arctic'

"We don't have any substantial records that the oil and gas exploration have created an issue for the polar bear, " said Dale Hall, director of Fish and Wildlife.

CNN: Polar bear now listed as 'threatened' species