The Story Behind the Photograph
A few photographer friends and I were photographing polar bears in Canada along Hudson Bay when we spotted this fellow walking along the frozen tundra. We moved our tundra vehicle in closer and followed him along for quite a while. All at once, he stopped, looked around, sat down on his haunches, laid his head back and gave a great, big yawn.
Then, ever so slowly, he laid back onto the snow and looked at us for just a few seconds — exactly the look you see in the photograph. Then he seemed to think better of the idea and decided he had had enough of us. He got up and slowly ambled toward the bay where we could no longer follow. But it didn't matter. His antics were recorded for posterity.
About the Bears of Churchill
Every autumn, polar bears gather along the western shore of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba — the self-declared Polar Bear Capital of the World — waiting for the bay to freeze so they can return to hunting seals on the ice. Until freeze-up they are essentially fasting, conserving energy, which produces the lounging, yawning, gloriously lazy behavior this photograph caught. The waiting is not as carefree as it looks: researchers at Polar Bears International have shown that later freeze-up dates are stretching this hungry season dangerously for the Western Hudson Bay population.
Viewing is done from large tundra vehicles on established tracks, and the bears — utterly unbothered — treat them as mobile scenery. Some, like this one, perform.
Photographer's Notes
Number 123 in the gallery and, for nearly twenty years, the best-loved wildlife print on the wall. Long lens from the vehicle window, exposure compensated up for the snow, and the only real skill involved was being ready when he rolled. People at the shows named him on sight — “the laid back bear” — before reading the title card. He shares the Churchill wall with Mother's Protective Arms and the blizzard-coated bison of Snow Happens.