A polar bear paparazzo brings back close-up images of these Hudson Bay celebrities.
Get a taste of what awaits you in print from this compelling excerpt.
Nosing into frigid wind a polar bear sniffs for prey. About 1,200 of these majestic carnivores haunt the western edge of Canada's Hudson Bay. Here near the southernmost tip of their range, they're treading on thin ice.
Like all polar bears, those on Hudson Bay need solid ice as a platform for hunting seals and seal pups, their main prey. Yet the bay is frozen only in winter and spring, so from July to November bears must live off their fat reserves. For millennia they've coped, but climate change may be tipping the balance. "Though there's considerable variation, spring breakup is two weeks or so earlier now than it was 20 years ago," says biologist Ian Stirling of the Canadian Wildlife Service. His data show that birthrate and adult bear weight are both down about 10 percent from 1980. "If the trend continues and the ice disappears from Hudson Bay," says University of Alberta biologist Andrew Derocher, "it's pretty clear that these bears will disappear too."
Even at subzero temperatures, polar bears retain virtually all their body heat. Two layers of fur and thick fat act as superb insulation.
A dozing bear won't lie for long as autumn blizzards hit. Snow, cold, and the promise of food will lure him toward Hudson Bay to stalk the winter ice. With ice tending to melt earlier in the spring, the winter hunt grows urgent.
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