Polar Bear with cub cross the fast ice. There was a vast expanse of fast ice in Raudfjord, Svalbard in June 2023. The ice was dotted with seals which had hauled out. In the distance we spotted a Polar Bear and her cub as they set off across the fast ice. Although they...
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Polar Bear amongst the ice floes – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear amongst the ice floes. A Polar Bear was exploring the ice floes in northern Svalbard. The ice was majestic and a beautiful contrast to the sea. The Polar Bear picked his way through the ice then had to swim to the next ice floe. It gave a big shake of the...
Polar Bears play with ice – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bears play with ice. Polar Bears like to have fun! In Svalbard we saw bears playing with bits of ice on several occasions. I guess there is little else to play with. Although we have sen them playing with drift wood, aerosol cans and fishing gear. It is such a...
Polar Bear strolls across the ice – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear strolls across the ice. Svalbard is perhaps the perfect place to watch Polar Bears on the pack ice. In June 2023 there was a lot of ice to the north of Svalbard and much of it was nicely sculptured. We saw this male Polar Bear making his way across the ice....
Polar Bear on a seal kill – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear on a seal kill. As we pushed through the ice heading into Raudfjord, Svalbard we could see many Glaucous Gulls in the distance. This indicated the presence of a carcass. As we got closer it was evident that a Polar Bear had taken a Bearded Seal. There was...
Swimming Polar Bear – Svalbard 2023
Swimming Polar Bear. Svalbard in June is blessed with 24 hours of sunshine each day. It was early in the morning when the light was perfect that we found this male Polar Bear swimming amongst the ice floes. He checked out the ice from both the water and the ice floes....
Polar Bear cubs of the year play with mum – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear cubs of the year play with mum. A Polar Bear and her two cubs of the year (COYS) were making their way across the fast ice in Raudfjord, Svalbard. The sun was beating down causing some significant shimmer. As we watched one of the cubs ran towards its...
Playful Polar Bear cubs of the year – Svalbard 2023
Playful Polar Bear cubs of the year. In Svalbard’s Raudfjord, a Polar Bear and her two cubs of the year (COYS) were making their leisurely way across the fast ice. The cubs became quite boisterous and began playing with each other. Their mother looked on with...
Curious Polar Bear cubs of the year – Svalbard 2023
Curious Polar Bear cubs of the year. In Northern Svalbard we had watched a female Polar Bear and her two cubs of the year (COYS) for quite some time. However, they were very distant. Then curiosity got the better of them and they moved closer towards us. They were...
Polar Bear plays with drift wood. Part 2 – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear plays with drift wood. In Raudfjord in the north of Svalbard, we found this 1.5 year old male polar bear. We had been watching him for several hours when he appeared from the water carrying a piece of drift wood. He immediately began to play with this stick...
Playful Polar Bear – Svalbard 2023
Playful Polar Bear. This 1.5 yr old male Polar Bear had been close to our icebreaker for some time, in Svalbard’s, Raudfjord. He had played with drift wood, blocks of ice and even some old fishing ropes. It was great entertainment. He became more inquisitive and...
Kittiwakes follow our ship – Svalbard 2023
Kittiwakes follow our ship. There was a lot of ice around Svalbard in the summer of 2023. As our ship pushed through the ice north of Svalbard Polar Cod were exposed from below the ice. This brought in lots of Kittiwakes as they like to feast on these delicacies. The...
Svalbard Reindeer cross the fast ice – Svalbard 2023
Svalbard Reindeer cross the fast ice. In Svalbard’s Raudfjord, we spotted four small specks in the distance. They were clearly not Polar Bears. As they got closer it was obvious that they were Svalbard Reindeer. They made their way slowly but surely across the fast...
Polar Bear explores the pack ice – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear explores the pack ice. In June 2023 there was a lot of ice around the shores of Northern Svalbard. As we pushed our way through the ice we found this young male Polar Bear exploring the ice. He was on the look out for his favourite food - seals. One never...
Polar Bear reflections – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear reflections. This young male Polar Bear was wandering amongst the ice floes in Raudfjord, northern Svalbard. It came upon an open patch off water which provided some very nice reflections of the bear. Fortunately, he stayed near this area for some time. A...
Polar Bear and her two cubs cross the fast ice – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear and her two cubs cross the fast ice. We had tracked this Polar Bear and her two cubs of the year (COYS) for some time in Svalbard’s Raudfjord. At times they came close to us. But for this shot I went wide to give a sense of the majestic beauty of Svalbard...
Polar Bear plays with drift wood. Part 1 – Svalbard 2023
Polar Bear plays with drift wood. In Raudfjord in the north of Svalbard, we found this 1.5 year old male polar bear. We had been watching him for several hours when he appeared from the water carrying a piece of drift would. He immediately began to play with this...
Sparring Polar Bears on a frozen lake – Churchill, Canada 2022
Sparring Polar Bears on a frozen lake. The snow was being blown horizontally across the tundra just outside Churchill, Manitoba, Canada when we came across these two male Polar Bears sparring on a frozen lake. The cur ed lines of snow across the frozen lake made for a...
Up close with a huge male Polar Bear – Churchill, Canada 2022
Up close with a huge male Polar Bear. On the outskirts of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada it was a bitterly cold morning with a strong wind blowing snow across the tundra. In the distance we saw a huge male Polar Bear walking slowly towards us. He got closer and closer...
Sparring Polar Bears – Churchill, Canada 2022
Sparring Polar Bears. Polar Bears congregate on the tundra close to Hudson’s Bay, Churchill, because this is the place they know where the bay will freeze over first and they will be able to hunt seals and have their first substantial meal in months. This is one of...
Three Polar Bears have fun in the snow – Churchill, Canada 2022
Three Polar Bears have fun in the snow. It was snowing hard and the wind was fierce on a bitterly cold morning on the tundra just outside Churchill (Manitoba, Canada) when we found two Polar Bears sparring playfully. They were soon joined by a third bear. For a short...
Red fox and a successful hunt – Churchill, Canada 2022
Red fox and a successful hunt. It was a bitterly cold morning on the outskirts of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. This Red Fox was spotted as it hunted in the distance. We worked our way closer and it continued to hunt. It suddenly stopped and could clearly hear the...
Polar Bear in the pack ice – Svalbard, 2022
Polar Bear in the pack ice. North of Svalbard, the blues of the pack ice were very striking as this magnificent Polar Bear made its way effortlessly through the ice. WE had seen this bear several times over the course of a few days. It was curious and came towards our...
Polar Bear enjoys a dip in the sea – Svalbard, 2022
Polar Bear enjoys a dip in the sea. A Sperm Whale carcass had washed up on the shores of Lomfjorden, Spitsbergen (Svalbard) sometime ago and had become mostly buried in the pebbles on the shore. This was a magnet for Polar Bears as it provides food for many months. We...
Polar Bear amongst the ice floes – Svalbard 2022
Polar Bear amongst the ice floes. There can be fewer better sights than a Polar Bear picking its way amongst the ice floes. Perfectly adapted to its arctic environment, this top predator moves with ease across the ice: a beautiful balance between power and elegance....
Polar Bear and her two cubs along the shore line – Svalbard 2022
Polar Bear and her two cubs along the shore line. A Sperm Whale carcass had washed up on the shores of Lomfjord, Spitsbergen (Svalbard) sometime ago and had become mostly buried in the pebbles on the shore. This was a magnet for Polar Bears as it provides food for...
Swimming Polar Bear – Svalbard 2022
Swimming Polar Bear. The pack ice was to the far north of Arctic Svalbard. We searched for Polar Bears bears amongst some wonderful ice formations. The blue colour of some of the ice made the scene magical. Suddenly we saw movement in the sea - a swimming Polar Bear!...
Male Polar Bear chills amongst the willow – Churchill, Canada 2021
Male Polar Bear chills amongst the willow. Whilst waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze so they can hunt seals Polar Bears spend a lot of time conserving energy having not had a decent meal in months. This bear was taking it very easy, indeed. It stayed in this position...
Male Polar Bear patrols the shoreline – Churchill, Canada 2021
Male Polar Bear patrols the shoreline. As a light snow fall began, we came across this very impressive male Polar Bear as it wandered along the shore of Hudson Bay, Churchill. He made leisurely progress whilst keeping a careful eye on us. We watched in fascination as...
Polar Bear and cubs at the shore – Churchill, Canada 2021
Polar Bear and cubs at the shore. We had seen this Polar bear and her two cubs a few days earlier as they had crossed the icy tundra near Churchill, Canada. She had been heading for the shoreline when we lost track of them. Now we found then on a rocky outcrop at the...