Garden of ice Exploring the Arctic Ecosystem!
There is humor and tragedy in your images how vital is it to reflect both? I don’t typically set out to capture either of these emotions but when you work for extended periods of time with a particular species those things are naturally part of the context of their lives. Working a subject for many months, sometimes years is what allows me to start to understand some of their natural behaviors. Being more in tune with how they live gives me many more opportunities for documenting the things most people don’t see due to their desire to move on or better yet, not have an interest to begin with. So many people will see animals briefly, but few take the time to get to know them. When you do you are able to see the humor and the tragedy that is a normal part of all animals lives.
Capturing such expressive images how do you manage your emotions in the field? It’s actually quite difficult and I’ve been roundly criticized by people who have seen some of my work and accuse me of being heartless to watch such difficult events unfold. Take for example my video footage of a mother polar bear and her two starving cubs that I captured last year during my work on Hudson Bay. It’s a short video sequence of a mother polar bear who was obviously very malnourished. Her two cubs were in equally poor shape. The video shows the two cubs huddling with their mother and one of the cubs begins to convulse. Scientists who have seen the video suggest that the cub was going through the last symptoms of starvation.
I filmed the entire event and it was emotional to watch but unfortunately there was nothing I could do for many, many reasons. In brief, the event took place in a National Park where it is illegal to interfere with wildlife in any way. Second there is no easy way to capture and evacuate a family of polar bears. Those who think otherwise are not dealing with reality. The good news is that due to this event and others that have taken place in the recent years in Churchill, there will soon be a special rehabilitation center built in Winnipeg for just such events. it will be a place where the proper authorities can bring rescued cubs to try and save them from certain death.
http://vimeo.com/17469748
B E
Polar Bears International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the polar bear and its habitat through research, stewardship, and education. We provide scientific resources and information on polar bears and their habitat to institutions and the general public worldwide.
Polar Bears International
www.polarbearsinternational.org
© Daniel J. Cox
www.naturalexposures.com Polar Bear mother and cub lay near a dead cub. Cape Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
KNOWLEDGE
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