Svalbard: Polar bear mums and cubs

bionicsherpa

bionicsherpa

Messages
532
Name
Ken
Edit My Images
Yes
1 A mum and cub on patrol walking in front of a massive ice wall.

NFX_6343.jpg


2

NFX_6225.jpg


3

NFX_6242.jpg


4 Spin drying while foraging for meat on a whale carcass

NFX_6108.jpg


5 Junior loses his footing and falls in...

NFX_6069.jpg


6 Boy was that cold!

NFX_6073.jpg
 
Last edited:
Absolutely fantastic images... great to see the series of images, they are great animals. (y)
 
Fabulous images, I really like number one which gives you a good feeling of 'scale', but number five is a great capture which made me smile (didn't realise at first the cub was standing on the ribcage of a whale!)

Can I ask....I assume you are on board a ship of some description, but how far away are you from the bears.

I hope there is more to come.

mulch
 
Oh lucky man(y)(y)
 
ken #1 is fantastic. the reflections in the water are superb and the grand scale of it all makes me feel quite small. send it to national geographic they will surely want it. (y).......... stunning shots :notworthy:
 
Last edited:
Superb. Fantastic place to vist.
 
chrisgrieve said:
Absolutely fantastic images... great to see the series of images, they are great animals. (y)
Click to expand...

Many thanks. As you say thay are great animals and what a privilege it was to see them in their own environment.

mulch said:
Fabulous images, I really like number one which gives you a good feeling of 'scale', but number five is a great capture which made me smile (didn't realise at first the cub was standing on the ribcage of a whale!)

Can I ask....I assume you are on board a ship of some description, but how far away are you from the bears.

I hope there is more to come.

mulch
Click to expand...

All these pictures were taken from a zodiac rigid inflatable boat. Distances varied but we did get within 20m at times. I had an expert with me who made a judgement on each occasion as to how close it was safe to go without unduly stressing the bear or me (they are very dangerous animals). Although they are good swimmers we would have been able to get away from them in the zodiac.

BRASH said:
Oh lucky man(y)(y)
Click to expand...

Don't I know it.

dinorock said:
ken #1 is fantastic. the reflections in the water are superb and the grand scale of it all makes me feel quite small. send it to national geographic they will surely want it. (y).......... stunning shots :notworthy:
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm glad you like that one. It was a magic moment. I watched the bears walking around and was willing them to walk behind the water so I could get the reflection. The light was superb and I thought the gigantic ice wall would set them in their environment nicely.

john starkey said:
Lovely shots Ken,
regards,
john.
Click to expand...

Thanks John.
 
Last edited:
Superb shots. I just LOVE the one of the little one slipping... look at his back leg going skywards!!! And his little face poking out of the water in the next one all soaked.

Really lovely to see something different... thanks (y)
 
Janice said:
Superb shots. I just LOVE the one of the little one slipping... look at his back leg going skywards!!! And his little face poking out of the water in the next one all soaked.

Really lovely to see something different... thanks (y)
Click to expand...

Thanks Janice. That little cub was a real character.
 
Brilliant photo's, poor little cub got bit of a shock!!!
 
Superb Ken, Svalbard is on my list of places to go.
 
flossyplops said:
Brilliant photo's, poor little cub got bit of a shock!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Heidi, the cubs don't have the protective fatty layer of the adults so they don't go into the water until a bit older. You can see it was a bit of a shock as he hauls himself out.

fracster said:
Superb Ken, Svalbard is on my list of places to go.
Click to expand...

Thanks, it's a great place for both wildlife and landscapes.
 
Stunning set is all I can say. Across all of the photos you've really told a story - which is great (technical side is great too, soo all good!)
 
chewyuk said:
Well caught, well shot and wish I was there!
Click to expand...

muppetdave said:
Stunning set is all I can say. Across all of the photos you've really told a story - which is great (technical side is great too, soo all good!)
Click to expand...

Flash In The Pan said:
I know I'm just repeating what everyone else has said, but these really are fantastic, Ken :)
Click to expand...

photostar_1 said:
I agree with all said so far....an absolutely fabulous set of images!

Was this a special photo holiday...and if so, which company did you go with? We'll all start saving now!
Click to expand...

Thanks for all your comments, much appreciated. Yes it was a special photographic trip organised by Exodus through Quark Expeditions and led by wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein. We were also very lucky to have with us Dr Ian Stirling who is probably the world's greatest expert on polar bears and their behaviour. It was a brilliant trip and, as you may have seen, I have already posted 5 threads of pictures from Svarlbard from the 2500 odd that I took out there.
 
Really terrific shots as everyone has said. Numbers 5 and 6 got me laughing, a lot :LOL:
 
Just beautiful work, pleasure to see. I just realised on my 3rd visit that the "stepping stones" and Whale bones!!
 
akr said:
Really terrific shots as everyone has said. Numbers 5 and 6 got me laughing, a lot :LOL:
Click to expand...

Many thanks, the expression on the cubs face says it all!

Dawn B said:
Just beautiful work, pleasure to see. I just realised on my 3rd visit that the "stepping stones" and Whale bones!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Dawn. The whale carcass was the reason for the presence of so many bears in this location. With the ice melting so early these days the bears are unable to feed on their usual seals and so are turning to scavenging whatever they can find. This carcass is 18 months old and only exposed at low tide but is still yielding some meat.
 
Rough Edges said:
Stunning mages. So good the hair on the back of my neck stood on end, not often that happens..
Click to expand...

Thank you, some of the sights we saw, especially some of the tender moments between mothers and cubs, brought tears to our eyes as we were watching.

As people seem to be enjoying seeing the polar bears I will sort out some more to post on another thread.
 
I'm not sure I'd ever get tired of looking at those Ken. You should be very proud of yourself.
 
Kerioak said:
Beautiful set with a story, real pleasure to look at.
Click to expand...

Kev M said:
I'm not sure I'd ever get tired of looking at those Ken. You should be very proud of yourself.
Click to expand...

crieffy said:
Fantastic set:eek: Would love to see these in the wild some day - thank you for posting them. Had to have a wee chuckle at the last two:D

Those gulls in pic. 4 look massive! Must be the effect of the telephoto lens?

John:clap:
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone for commenting. The gulls you mention are big Glaucous Gulls looking for any scraps the bears miss.
 
bionicsherpa said:
Thanks Dawn. The whale carcass was the reason for the presence of so many bears in this location. With the ice melting so early these days the bears are unable to feed on their usual seals and so are turning to scavenging whatever they can find. This carcass is 18 months old and only exposed at low tide but is still yielding some meat.
Click to expand...

18mths! :eek: I suppose the cold climate will keep it pretty much frozen though, must be very valuable to have when Seals are not plentiful. Ive enjoyed both threads with these Bears, beautiful shots we rarely see on here, you are very lucky indeed.
 
1 is one of the best shots I've seen on here - just great environment shot, definately a poster print :)

drew
 
buckas said:
1 is one of the best shots I've seen on here - just great environment shot, definately a poster print :)

drew
Click to expand...

You are too kind. It was a magic moment and I was praying that I had caught it and held it still as I was standing up in a rocking zodiac and hand holding a 400mm lens.

steve.82 said:
That cubs got the best paws in the last one!
Click to expand...

We certainly had a quiet chuckle at that cub's expense when he fell in and then hauled himself out like a wet dish mop. Adult polar bear paws are about the size of large dinner plates and even the cub's paws look oversized.
 
ladysue said:
A beautiful set of pictures. So lovely I have looked at them several times. The fisrt one is amazing showing the scale of the ice wall.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I keep looking at them too because, sitting here in the warm, it's difficult to believe that I really was there, in Svalbard, just a few weeks ago.
 
Beautiful set of photographs Ken, the memories of that trip will last you a lifetime, very well done indeed:clap:

Just as an aside, i read in a Norwegian newspaper yesterday (online) that 2 Norwegian guys were attempting to canoe around the islands around Svalbard and were camping overnight on land, A polar bear came into their tent and dragged one of the guys out as he slept, dragged him about 40 metres before his friend woke up and had to shoot the polar bear to free his friend.

Scary for the guys and sad ending for the polar bear:(
 
Really terrific shots, you lucky man! The last one is just hilarious, his little face looking so drenched and shocked LOL! Thanks for posting them up!
 
Groucho said:
Beautiful set of photographs Ken, the memories of that trip will last you a lifetime, very well done indeed:clap:

Just as an aside, i read in a Norwegian newspaper yesterday (online) that 2 Norwegian guys were attempting to canoe around the islands around Svalbard and were camping overnight on land, A polar bear came into their tent and dragged one of the guys out as he slept, dragged him about 40 metres before his friend woke up and had to shoot the polar bear to free his friend.

Scary for the guys and sad ending for the polar bear:(
Click to expand...

Many thanks. How could I ever forget that trip, even the organisers said it was the most successful they had ever run for sightings and that it is unlikely to be beaten.

Every year there are incidents with polar bears and it is such a shame when one is shot. Whenever we were on land we were accompanied by armed spotters (as the law requires there) but we never landed if there was any evidence of bears in the vicinity. We were also given a detailed safety briefing on what to do if we did encounter a bear on land. The emphasis was to distract the bear to buy enough time to get us onto the boats and hence avoid causing harm or even distress to the bear.

Nookie said:
Really terrific shots, you lucky man! The last one is just hilarious, his little face looking so drenched and shocked LOL! Thanks for posting them up!
Click to expand...

Many thanks, it was a magic moment.
 
They are awesome, although the the photo with the seagulls in the back ground, I dunno if it is the perspective, but the gulls look like they could carry the Bears off!
 
Some good shots, but the last one with the little bears paws on the ice chunks is so very good. Well Done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top