Receding ice leaves Canada's polar bears at rising risk
Sprawled on rocky ground far from sea ice, a lone Canadian polar bear sits under a dazzling sun, his white fur utterly useless as camouflage.
It's mid-summer on the shores of Hudson Bay and life for the enormous male has been moving in slow motion, far from the prey that keeps him alive: seals.
This is a critical time for the region's polar bears.
Every year from late June when the bay ice disappears—shrinking until it dots the blue vastness like scattered confetti—they must move onto shore to begin a period of forced fasting.
But that period is lasting longer and longer as temperatures rise—putting them in danger's way.
Once on solid ground, the bears "typically have very few options for food," explains Geoff York, a biologist with Polar Bear International (PBI).
York, an American, spends several weeks each year in Churchill, a small town on the edge of the Arctic in the northern Canadian province of Manitoba. There he follows the fortunes of the endangered animals.
This is one of the best spots from which to study life on Hudson Bay, though transportation generally requires either an all-terrain vehicle adapted to the rugged tundra, or an inflatable boat for navigating the bay's waters.
Every year starting in late June, polar bears move to the shores of the Hudson Bay where changes in ice melt are altering their life patterns.
As ice cover shrinks, there has been less prey available for beluga whales, such as this one seen in the murky waters of the Churchill River near the Hudson Bay.