Polar Bear Cub & Mother Marching in Time

Recently when in the Arctic, I came across these two polar bears - mother and 2nd year cub making their way across the snow.

I watched them for some time and became transfixed by the symmetry of their walking.  It reminded my of two soldiers maintaining the same distance from one another and "walking in time". 

They continued to walk like this for sometime and appeared to showed no apprehension towards my presence - although I am quite sure they new exactly where I was at any particular time.

LEFT:  Polar bear mother and 2nd year cub make their way accross the snow in Canada.

Photographing Emotive Situations - Polar Bears

Cute and Cuddly

For the most part people want to see photographs of animals that are pretty and show the animals at their best.  The image of a koala comes to mind.  We have all seen photographs of this adorable furry animal sitting calmly in the tree.  Likewise, many of us have seen beautiful images of polar bears and other apex predators such as tigers and lions.  If it has fur, big eyes and is cute and cuddly, then it's often loved and adored by the masses. 

But, everything on planet Earth must eat, and unlike you and me (for the most part) who calmly purchase pre-packaged food and products from the supermarket or convenience store; most apex predators don't have this luxury.  They must skillfully hunt and kill what they wish to eat - or die! 

Often this spectacle of animal behaviour is not pretty.  People watching from the sideline often barack for the small gazelle that is running blindly away from the pursuing lion, giving little thought that the lion must kill and feed on the gazelle if its life, and the lives of its cubs are to continue.

Image Left:  1st year polar bear cub checks out photographer.

 Capturing the Images

Photographing such an event, whether it be a feeding frenzy underwater or a wolf killing and eating a elk, is always psychologically disturbing;  the often cute and fuzzy image of an animal is transposed into an animal killing another to survive. 

Image Left: 1st year baby cub makes its way through snow drift following mother.

It’s at this time that you must concentrate on acquiring the images with a steady hand and remove all emotion from the equation.  Often photographers become so caught up in the moment emotionally that they cannot function as photographers; their images are blurry due to camera shake, poorly composed and often lack technical prowess.  It takes considerable experience to turn off your emotions and capture the moment, but once you have mastered this skill, it becomes possible to photograph some amazing and spectacular events that are just as important as those cute and cuddly moments.

Why Am I Writing This?

So why I am writing this?  Since posting the images in the thread below and syndicating the images  worldwide, I have been sent several e-mails stating how unnecessary it is to photograph such animal behaviour.  I am hoping this thread will explain the reasoning.

Click the appropiate file in the U-Tube player to see a short video.

Polar Bear Infanticide & Cannibalism on the Arctic Ice - Global Warming

I've just returned from a few weeks in the Arctic observing polar bears (Ursus martimus).

During the time I was on ther tundra, I observed as  many as 12 bears at any one time which included large males, females, and females with cubs (1st and 2nd year).  I also sighted Arctic Fox, Arctic Hare, Silver and Cross Fox, and Rock Ptarmigans.

Photographs were taken in an assortment of conditions ranging from almost balmy conditions in full sun to downright frigid temperatures with 50 knot blizzard winds and falling snow.

Bear Congregation Waits for Ice to Form

From October to November there are many bears that have migrated from the more southerly regions to the shores of Hudson Bay; they are very hungry and have not fed for most of the summer.  The congregation is waiting for the sea ice to form to allow them to roam widely to feed upon their favourite prey - the ringed seal. 

Lack of Sea Ice

One of the most striking observations I made was the lack of solid sea ice.   Although the ice was slowly forming, it was still what they call grease ice, which is ice that is not suitable for the bears to traverse safely any great distance from the shoreline.  The sea ice is paramount to the bear's survival as without the ice formation the bears cannot move onto the bay to track and feed on seals. 

Cannibalism

On one day we observed a male polar bear feeding upon what appeared to be some type of carrion - perhaps a seal or a other small animal.  However, upon closer inspection it was revealed that the small carcass was not a seal but rather a baby first year polar bear.  The location of the feeding male was given away by two ravens which could be seen from some distance jumping and flying about.

Circling the male was a female bear which appeared to be in obvious distress. The female was not walking as polar bears usually do - steadily and surely, but instead had a stiff gait and was walking erratically.  Further, the bear's head was swaying from side to side and the mother was making low vocalisations.

Although cannibalism is not unheard of in the animal world, it isn't commonly observed amongst polar bears.  There are several hypothesis for cannibalism, however, all are unfounded.  Perhaps the male bear is removing future competition by killing the cub, or is killing the cub to cause the female mother to become 'available" again for mating.  Although these are plausible reasons, it's more likely that the male bear was exceptionally hungry  and seized the opportunity for nutritional gain by feeding upon the cub. As mentioned earlier the bears are congregating to feed on ringed seals on the ice.  If the ice is not forming earlier enough, then the hungry bears become starved and after reaching such a poor condition may seek alternate prey such as young bear cubs or other animals. 

Of interest is that the male bear did not consume the liver of the cub.  This is because the liver of a polar bear is toxic.  How did the male know the liver was toxic?

Mother Carries Deceased Away

After the male bear had finished consuming the carcass and moved away, the female bear approached the carcass, sniffed at it, and  picking it up gently within her jaws, she proceeded to carry it away – where to is unknown as I could not follow her.

Major Concern

What's a major concern is that this cannibalistic behaviour may become more prevalent if conditions favourable for ice formation are delayed, leading to fewer recruitment of a species that is already in decline. 

Scientists have documented the gradual reduction and delay in sea ice formation for several years and although some proponents believe this to be a normal event, others believe the cause maybe global warming.  Whatever the cause, the results speak for themselves - sea ice is not forming as rapidly or as extensively as it did.

Please note that this image is being posted NOT to discriminate or advance the perception that polar bears are fearless and uncaring predators, but to highlight a concern that global warming is altering the behaviour of specific species.

As I get time I will post a series of images I have photographed of the event.

For more information on the plight of the polar bear, please visit Polar Bears International

Images top to bottom: 

1: Male polar bear holds cub carcass looking toward circling mother bear.

2: Male polar bear trots across snow ridge carrying cub carcass to avoid contact with other bears in near vicinity.

3: Cub head, entrails and uneaten liver are dragged along the ice.

4: Carcass left on ice after male polar bear had consumed most of the carcass.

5: Male polar bear eating cub carcass.

6: Polar bear waits patiently for sea ice to form.  At this time of the year the ice should be more extensive.

Update on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 7:47PM by Iain Williams

News Photographers Association of Canada (NAAC.ca) asked I write a short story of the cannibalism event we witnessed.  It can viewed on their website at http://npac.ca/?s=iain+d.+williams

Canadian White Bears - Spirit Bears

Things have been quite busy lately.  Apart from the time organising the logistics to follow the Tasmania Devil Task Force, I’ve spent 9 days photographing the Komode Black Bear (Ursus americanus kermodei).  The Komode black bear is also known as the Spirit Bear and broadly speaking is a black bear with a white coat.  The white colouring of the fur is caused by a genetic shift.

I was based on a 72 foot yacht and travelled from Bella Bella to Prince Rupert stopping at one of a few known Spirit Bear locations.  The salmon were running and I was able to observe at close quarters several individuals whilst they fished, slept and dined upon salmon.  The salmon migrate annually upstream from the ocean to spawn and then die.  This "spread of salmon" provides long sort after protein for numerous animals and actually forms the basis for the ecosystem.  Although weather conditions were rainy on several days, the low cloud, mist and rain added to the mystic of the bears as they moved along the stream edges in search of salmon.

At one stage I had a Sprit Bear “spirit” himself behind me to come out along the stream only 3 meters (10 feet) from my shooting location – I wonderful experience to be able to see this majestic creature up close and personal.  At times like these, unless I am actually shooting, I just stop and watch and take in the experience.

I was hoping to also be able to observe Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles and Pine Martins, however, I failed to observe them in the numbers seen on earlier trips to this area.  Despite this, Coastal Brown Bears and inland Brown Bears (Grizzlies) were observed on several occasions along with the Black Bear. 

The region in which I was photographing is spectacular; precipitous glacial topped mountains, deep fiords and miles upon upon miles are unlogged virgin temperate rainforest.  The float plane which I took from the yacht back to Price Rupert at the completion of my trip, flew over some absolutely amazing scenery - scenery that has to be experienced to be believed.  The float plane bush pilots that fly you into some of these areas are some of the best in the world - and when your flying a few meters from rocky outcrops on each side of the wing your glad  they know what there doing!

The waters in this area of Canada are exceptionally deep and the bottom drops away to immense depths very close to the shore.  The deep water and schools of small fish attract Humpback Whales that are frequently seen breeching and feeding.  The deepness of the water is due to the region being glaciated in a past geological epoch.

The image at left was taken in the early morning when there was a low lying fog.  We had been in the zodiac patrolling along the stream-ocean verge when we saw a brown bear and cub meandering accross the seaweed beds at low tide.  The low lying fog gives the image a sereal look to it and the interaction between the mother bear and cub was wonderful to watch.  This bear and its cub worked their way along the seaweed bed searching for slamon on which to feed.  The mother was keen on catching some fish, however, the cub just wanted to play - after a short time playing the mother bear decided enough is enough and paw swiped the youngster to settle him/her down.  Pity I missed that shot!  Lesson number one - NEVER stop looking through the viewfinder no matter how cold, miserable and sore you are, because as soon as you do, the action will happen and you will miss it!

The close up of the coastal brown bear was taken from the zodiac about 20 feet from the bear.  The bear was more interested in feeding on a salmon he had caught than feeding on me - but with all wild creatures it's best never to get too close as to be within there personal space.  As you can see from ther eyes, I was about as close as you can get without actually annoying this fellow - the eye says it all "get closer & I'll get pissed with you"