Greenland: Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord – Polar Bear on Ice

We all got awaken at 3:45am – polar bear quite close to the chip was traversing the sea ice – an absolutely incredible sighting in the yellow and red hues of the midnight sun. The bear was moving quite quickly from ice float to ice float, perhaps hunting for seals. Once in a while he would jump in the water and swim and then come out land roll on the ice, probably to get rid of excess water. Polar bears are classified as marine mammal as they spent most of their time at see and in sea ice hunting seals. They can swim for days in open water, using massive front paws as paddles and hind legs as rudder, at speeds of 10kmh. Only about 2% of polar bear hunts are successful – a constant life of survival and hunting. There are about 26 thousand polar bears in the world, spread in 9 distinct populations around the Arctic polar region.