Young polar bear, Barter Island, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark III, 16-35mm, (16mm), 1/50 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 200
Polar bears congregate along Alaska’s north coast when the scent of the bowhead whale carcasses show up from the autumn indigenous whale hunts. Barter Island, located just off the Alaska mainland, is bordered by the Beaufort Sea to the north. It is growing in popularity as a destination to view polar bears, an amazing experience indeed to see these animals in the wild. With the current state of the polar bear under much debate and concern regarding climate change, the bears are the subject of much study. Many of the bears have been darted from the air, collared with radio collars, ears tagged, painted with large black numbers on their fur, gums tatooed, and other sort of research marking tools that have taught the polar bears quite well to dislike helicopters. This young bear is quite curious and approached our small bus for a closer look. Heavy winds for the last few days, gusting to 50mph, have made both photography and bear traffic minimal.
