BEHIND THE SCENE

Polar bears are at the top of the Arctic food chain, and are the only truly carnivorous bears. Seals make up 90 percent of their diet. They need fear no other species — except humans.
Polar bear lives are broken into two seasons. The first is winter, the feasting season, when bears hunt seals while roaming on the pack ice. And then there is summer, the fasting season, when the absence of ice pushes the bears onto land, with scarce food sources.
During this time, their diet is poor and consists mainly of birds’ eggs and kelp. Occasionally they will find a whale carcass on the beach.

I took this photo in late November in Churchill, Manitoba. Situated on the shores of the Hudson Bay, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada is strategically positioned on the annual migration route of polar bears as they make their transition from land to sea. I captured this image from a ground perspective, appreciating the intense and inquisitive gaze of the bear as she momentarily paused to look me up.