Sven's polar bear blog: Day 3

Today we spent the whole day back out in the tundra buggy at the ice edge of Hudson Bay.

It was another spectacular day. We saw nearly a dozen bears today -- not as many as on Wednesday -- but they were more active.

We saw a mom and cub, twice, and a younger adult male who wanted to put on a show! Mom and cub were adorable, of course, but yet again, one of the trends that have been observed here is that there are more often mom and one cub. Historically there were more two or three cub sightings with a mother. This could be a result of stressed conditions -- less food, shorter hunting season on less sea ice -- a possible result of the upward trend in temperatures.

Mom and cub looked very healthy, though. We saw them again a bit later, and this time a male was nearby. He didn't seem to notice them, but mom wasn't going to take any chances. She postured at the male, startling her own cub who stood up on his hind legs -- kind of wondering what was happening. There was a "stare down" for a few minutes, then mom and cub went on their way. It was as if this mom didn't take chances. Rather than try to sneak around the male, she wanted him to know she would tolerate no shenanigans! (Recall that adult males will sometimes eat polar bear cubs for their fat, and also to allow the mother to be able to mate again).

The younger adult male sat on a patch of ice for much of the afternoon doing very little but napping in the cool sunshine. As we passed him a while later, he was still there doing very little -- but suddenly broke out into what appeared to be a back stroke! He turned over on his back and almost kicked his feet in the air while occasionally yawning. He did this a few times in the course of several minutes.

He then finally got up and started walking across the ice, right by us, occasionally pausing and smelling the air and looking at us before heading off into some shrubs to continue his nap.

Polar bears have an incredible sense of smell. They can smell a seal from a mile or more away and will then patiently wait for them to surface. The best way I can describe observing their smelling, is its like us listening intently to something in the distance. Imagine standing still, cocking your head and turning toward the sound. They do this with their nose and get a boat load of information in the process about who else is around (whether other bears or other animals) or the possibility of food.