17th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
On The Brink
Soon after arriving in Isbukta on the eastern coast of Svalbard, we rushed out under the midnight sun in a small zodiac to witness what we'd come all that way to see, a polar bear. This solitary female slowly wandered along the ice in front of a gigantic glacial wall looking for a place to sleep and soon settled down in amongst the snow. For me this scene, although an incredible privilege to experience, was a poignant one. To witness these two arctic giants together gave a strong reminder of their increasingly uncertain futures and that sights such as this may soon become a thing of the past.
Photo Detail
Date Taken: | 05.2019 |
Date Uploaded: | 11.2019 |
Photo Location: | Svalbard and Jan Mayen |
Camera: | NIKON D7500 |
Copyright: | © Christian Tuckwell-Smith |