Peaceful Bear

As a wildlife photographer, I hope to capture animals in their natural habitat without disturbing their routine or changing the environment in which they live. The Arctic is one of the most challenging areas to access and, to safely observe wildlife but home to the most powerful and dangerous bears in the world and, one that has become an iconic symbol of the risks of climate change.

From our small ship, a re-purposed research vessel named the RV Kinfish, we sailed the Arctic waters of the Norway archipelago of Svalbard in search of polar bears and other Arctic animals.  Making the most of 24 hours of daylight, we scanned the shoreline for 6 days and were thrilled to have seen one very active bear but... we were eager for more.

Given the vast expanse of islands, fjords and shoreline of Svalbard, there are no guarantees that a sighting will happen and often, days can pass between sightings. It might sound obvious but it is also very challenging to spot a white object against white snow!

Late one night, we anchored in a calm fjord - next to an ice edge hoping that more searching the next day would result in a second bear sighting. Then the unexpected happened!

Sometime in the very early morning, while all were asleep, a polar bear had approached the ship and went to sleep just off the bow. The bear made no noise whatsoever and it was the First Officer (on bridge duty) who looked up at 4:00 am to see this bear. Fortunately I was already awake and ever so quietly made my way onto the bow of the ship, able to catch this bear asleep and at peace.

Despite all our days of searching - this bear found us!

Click here to discover more wildlife photography from Canadian visual artist Christine Lundvall.