Tags
Alaska, Arctic, Bear, Nature, North, Photography, Photos, Polar Bear, Wildlife

Way back when I first saw the ad for a social science professor at Iḷisaġvik College, I remember pulling up the college website to fight a polar bear alert on the front page. Now some might have found this a bug, but I can assure you that for me this was a definite feature. I really wanted to see this place. As it happens, polar bears don’t show up that often, and when they do, it seems that I’m always busy. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to get up close and personal with one of these guys; I just enjoy seeing them from time to time, and especially when I have a camera handy.
So, I’m sitting in the cafeteria during the orientation for this semester when a notice goes out telling us there is a polar bear on the beach, just across from our buildings. The point of the alert is of course to let us know that we shouldn’t wander out that way (at least not on foot), but they do sometimes have an ironic effect. I desperately wanted to take a really long bathroom break right then and then, but I managed to hold myself together long enough to take advantage of a legitimate lunch break.
…and then the bear stuck around for a couple of days. Apparently, a walrus carcass had washed ashore nearby and he was munching on that in between naps on the beach and out on the ice. Eventually the local Wildlife department moved the carcass, but not before I and half the town got plenty of pictures.
So, yeah! Polar bears do happen!
Click to embiggen!







Of course Moni got the best pics!


Glorious photos!
Wow! Great stuff.
And, per the famous line, “nature >>bloody red<< in tooth and claw," eh?
I love those bloody-faced pics. Wish I could have snapped them myself.
Utterly implacable creature. I have nothing but respect for them. Sure, they can be playful and beautiful, but they scare the crap out of me.
I hear they are just fine, right up until they kill you.
Never seen a polar bear, as I’ve never been to Alaska or more northern Canada. Have twice seen grizz in the lower 48, so, I understand this thought!
Absolutely magnificent!!!!