Increased survival of polar bear cubs during mild springs

From this page:

Unusually high polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774) predation on ringed seal (Pusa hispida (Schreber, 1775)) pups and increased survival of polar bear cubs during mild springs is documented in published articles. Strong predation on newborn ringed seal pups in early spring, however, is likely to lower the overall energy intake of polar bears if ringed seal pups are their main food, because the energetic value of ringed seal pups increases 7–8 times during the 6 week lactation period. So although hunting success in early spring increases cub survival during the period after den emergence,when they are most vulnerable, it is likely to increase the number of starving bears later in the season. This negative-feedback effect of strong spring predation will not occur in areas where other seal species are abundant during summer, and polar bears in such areas are likely to exhibit population growth during periods with milder springs, at least until the ringed seal population has been depleted. Long time series of population estimates that can be used to test this hypothesis do not exist, but it is strongly supported by catch statistics for polar bears and ringed seals from east Greenland.

Note that the increased polar bear cub survival in mild springs is actually documented while the "starvation later" part seems to be only a hypothesis.

A related paragraph is here:

In November 2007, he [Dr. Mitch Taylor, Wildlife Director with the Government of Nunavut] commented: “I really think that the amount of seals seen and seal kills witnessed (or almost witnessed) means that the ringed seal population in Hudson Bay is huge right now, probably well in excess of the last estimate of nearly half a million. Considering we need about 10,000 ringed seals to feed this population of bears, the bears have a good start.”