#522 Polar bear on west shore of Hudson Bay waiting for ice to freeze solid. Picture taken during a 2006 tundra buggy tour at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.

#523 Polar bear standing up to peer at us inside tundra buggy.

#524 With a pure white coat, this Arctic Fox is often hard to see as it roams among the polar bears searching for its own food.

#525 A polar bear wandering somewhat aimlessly around area while waiting for ice to freeze solid on Hudson Bay.

#526 Polar bear climbing short rise toward us.

#527 The sun was shining in the early morning but the weather shifted within hours to a total white-out blizzard. This bear was moving off to find some shelter.

#528 The feet of these bears are very large, with long claws.

#529 The tundra buggy driver parked us close to where an Arctic Hare was known to live. One by one, people slowly spotted the hare nibbling on a twig. I was one of the last to notice him in the failing daylight, even with people pointing me toward him. And then, it was only because of the black tips of its ears moving up and down as it ate, that I could make him out . I worked hard to improve the contrast between hare and snow so you could actually see this animal.

#541 It was a rare sunny morning and some polar bears were becoming uncomfortably warm. We watched this large bear walk to a small frozen pond, lower his chin to the ice, then slowly slither down until his whole body was flush against the ice. See next image...

#530 Here is the polar bear with his whole body flush against the cool ice. Ahhh!

#531 An Arctic Fox wanders freely among the polar bears as it searches for food.

#532 This mother bear rolled back and forth on her back while her cub played with an ice clump nearby.

#533 Another case of incredible camouflage. The Willow Ptarmigan in their winter plumage were extremely hard to see.

#534 A resting polar bear is not bothered by the presence of our tundra buggy slowly passing by, perhaps 100 feet away.

#535 An orphaned polar bear cub, now two years old, climbs a rocky mound to get a better view of us.

#537 A large male bear strides away

#538 An Arctic Fox on a kelp patch with his pristine white winter coat

#539 Two juvenile male polar bears tussle

#540 Polar bear cub

#542 A male polar bear ambling along

#543 Polar bears have extremely sensitive noses. It is said they can smell a ring seal out on the ice from more than 20 miles away. I can't imagine what it is thinking about our human odors.

#544 A sudden sharp sound sends this cub racing to his mother, where he backs in against for safety.

#545 Large polar bear male ambles by

#546 By late October the polar bears have not eaten anything for at least four months. They have lost so much weight that their heavy fur ripples loosely with each step.

#547 A polar bear approaches our tundra buggy and enables this portrait.