This post is about a drama that played out in the viewfinder of my Nikon Z9. While image quality is hampered by the distance and thermal distortion the drama of the hunt is burnt into my memory. We located a seal resting on ice and saw a bear stalking it by swimming up a lead and ducking under floes as it cautiously approached. This next photo shows the resting seal and the dark spot on the left of the frame is the bear’s head peeping up from the water.

The bear would disappear from view as it submerged or was hidden by the ice so we kept waiting for it to reappear closer and closer to it’s target. Suddenly the seal became alarmed and wriggled off the ice and into the water. It seemed the hunt was over and unsuccessful. Next thing we saw was the bear struggling up onto the ice dragging the seal with it.

Then ensued quite a tussle until the bear had the seal subdued in a blood drenched battle.

I must confess it was quite confronting to witness but was a culmination of what we had been searching for in our hunt for Polar bears hunting on ice. Witnessing these remarkable creatures in their harsh environment was the aim of the expedition and an immense privilege. We managed to see some more detailed footage of the kill from a drone flown from the ship. This highlighted just how much blood stained ice there was – the iron rich blood a seal requires to carry adequate oxygen for long dives goes a long way.

Photos with Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 800mm f6.3 VR S + 1.4x teleconverter