Young polar bear walking on ice, ANWR, Alaska.
A young polar bear walks directly toward the camera across newly formed sea ice in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The bear's face fills most of the vertical frame, ears forward, dark eyes locked on the lens, black nose prominent against the white fur. Its large front paws, tipped with dark claws, press flat against the thin ice surface.
This is a curious, confident young bear, probably a subadult recently separated from its mother. The direct approach and steady eye contact are typical of young polar bears that have not yet learned to be wary. The ice underneath is fresh and thin, the kind that forms along the Beaufort Sea shoreline in October as temperatures begin to drop. For a young bear like this, the arrival of new ice is a significant event. It means the hunting season is about to begin.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastline is one of the best places in Alaska to observe young polar bears during the fall freeze up period. As the ice forms, bears that have spent the summer and early fall on land begin venturing out, testing the new surface, exploring. This photo captures that moment of transition, a young polar bear stepping out onto the ice with the whole winter ahead of it.
Photo © copyright by Carl Donohue.