Polar Intensity: The Polar Bear and the Two Cashews

Yesterday’s photograph of a wet and muddy Polar Bear walking across the autumn tundra reminded me of this portrait from another very wet trip into Wapusk National Park.

I called the image Polar Intensity.

The bear’s dark, wet fur frames its pale face, while the eyes, nose and open mouth immediately hold your attention. The two curved canine teeth always remind me of cashews.

Hence the two cashews.

A Polar Bear Grazing on Berries

The photograph may look intense, but the bear was not threatening me or reacting to my presence.

It had been quietly grazing on berries and was completely passive.

Then it stopped, raised its head and began using its extraordinary senses of smell and taste to sample the air. Its mouth opened, the two canine teeth appeared, and the expression changed completely.

That was when I made the photograph.

I initially thought the bear was simply investigating a scent. It soon became clear that it had detected something much more important than me.

Another Polar Bear was approaching on the horizon directly behind me.

The bear in front of me knew it was coming before I did.

Polar Bear Smell and Taste

Polar Bears have an extraordinary sense of smell. They use scent to find food, investigate their surroundings and gather information about other bears.

They can also investigate chemical signals through a specialized sensory system connected with the mouth and nose. That combination of smell and taste helps explain why a bear may open its mouth while sampling an interesting scent.

It can look like a snarl in a still photograph, particularly when the canine teeth are visible. Without knowing what happened before and after the shutter was released, it would be easy to assume that this bear was reacting aggressively to me.

It wasn’t.

Its attention had shifted to the approaching bear behind me.

A Study in Contrast

The dark wet fur surrounding the face makes this portrait work for me.

The bear had travelled through the same saturated tundra mud that I described in yesterday’s post. Its shoulders were wet and almost black, while its face remained pale enough to catch the soft light.

The deep shadows simplify everything around the face. The highlights reveal the texture of the wet fur, the dark nose anchors the centre of the portrait, and the eyes hold just enough reflected light to remain alive.

Then there are those two cashews.

The teeth add visual tension, even though the bear itself was calm. That difference between what the photograph appears to show and what was actually happening is an important reminder that a single frame never tells the entire story.

Understanding Wildlife Behaviour

Watching behaviour before, during and after making a photograph is every bit as important as the photograph itself.

This image could easily be presented as an angry Polar Bear confronting the photographer. That might make a dramatic caption, but it would not be true.

The bear was peacefully eating berries. It smelled or tasted something in the air, lifted its head and showed me an expression I will never forget. Moments later, the second Polar Bear appeared behind me on the horizon.

The photograph is intense.

The encounter was not.

And now you know the story of the two cashews.

Why Are Polar Bears White? The Truth About Their Fur and Colour

Most people picture a Polar Bear as pure white against snow and ice.

During a solo September trip into Wapusk National Park, I photographed this wet, mud-stained bear walking across the autumn tundra along the western shore of Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba.

It rained for the entire trip. I was soaked, slipping, sliding and slopping my way through six inches (15 centimetres) of cold, muddy muck. Every step threatened to pull off my boots.

The Polar Bear seemed entirely unbothered.

Its head and shoulders were still creamy white, but its wet, mud-covered legs had become so dark that they almost looked as though they belonged to another animal.

Why Are Polar Bears White?

Polar Bear fur is not actually white.

The individual hairs have no white pigment. They are transparent and largely hollow. Light is scattered and reflected by the hairs, which makes the coat appear white.

How white a Polar Bear looks depends on the light, its surroundings and the condition of its fur. The same bear can appear bright white, creamy yellow, golden, grey or brown.

Mud, soil, vegetation and seal oil can stain the otherwise transparent hairs. Wet fur also reflects light differently and usually appears darker. The skin beneath the fur is dark.

After days of rain and travel through the saturated tundra, this bear’s legs and underside were coated in dark mud. Its relatively clean head and shoulders still reflected the pale overcast light, creating the striking contrast that immediately caught my attention.

A Polar Bear on the Autumn Tundra

We usually see Polar Bears photographed on snow and sea ice, but the bears of western Hudson Bay spend months on land waiting for the ice to return.

Photographing one on the autumn tundra tells another part of their story.

The rain deepened the golds and browns in the landscape, while the wet fur revealed texture that would have been hidden in a dry, fluffy coat. The mud on the bear’s legs gave them weight and helped separate its pale head and shoulders from the nearly white sky.

I remember struggling to keep my footing while the bear moved across the same wet ground without hesitation. I was soaked and covered in mud. The bear simply kept coming, calm and purposeful.

Years earlier, during another very wet and muddy trip into Wapusk National Park, I photographed a much tighter portrait of a mud-covered Polar Bear.

I called that photograph Polar Intensity.

Looking at today’s image reminded me of that portrait—and the two cashews.

That will be tomorrow’s story.

Did you know that Polar Bear fur has no white pigment?

Continue the story: Polar Intensity: The Polar Bear and the Two Cashews