Polar Bears, the largest land predators on Earth, gather on the northeast coast of Alaska. The bears are waiting for the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean to freeze over. When that happens, they will venture out onto the sea ice, hunting seals for the entire winter. As the bears await “freeze up” they hang out near Kaktovik, an Inuit village, and a spit of uninhabited (by humans) land off the shore. Here, young male bears spar and practice their wresting moves. Mothers teach their young cubs skills the cubs will need to survive their first winter, and the adult male bears patrol the beaches. The anticipation is palpable - you can sense that the bears know the freeze up is close.
This area forms the edge of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where the US Interior Department has approved plans to explore for oil and gas deposits. Polar Bears are already listed as "vulnerable" so this poses another threat to their survival as a species.
Негізгі бет Polar Bears of Arctic Alaska
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