How a Pro Photographer Shoots Polar Bears Swimming in Arctic Waters

Pro Underwater and Extreme Adventure photographer Jill reveals the back story of how she entered the water with and photographed wild polar bears while shooting the Under Thin Ice episode of The Nature of Things, one of Canada's iconic nature documentary programs. You can purchase a digital download jpg file size 5974 × 4480 at 300 dpi of this image here: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/860421017/digital-download-original-image-polar Buy a print or product or look at a gallery of my favorite polar bear shots: https://jillheinerth.smugmug.com/Polar-Bears/ More about Jill Heinerth: http://www.IntoThePlanet.com Book Jill as your virtual speaker for your conference or group: https://youtu.be/C3E7gjOyZ44 Listen to Jill's Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3uLhLYbT0nuwCHiW8BHLme?si=HR4RMMEPTwuYCwgaXrZmsw Buy Jill's Book -Into the Planet, My Life as a Cave Diver: Now in paperback at https://amzn.to/39W1xRq Consider making a small donation to allow Jill to continue her educational work and exploration: https://www.paypal.com/biz/fund?id=RJWHEY7KM8FR4 Jill's Amazon recommendations: http://www.amazon.com/shop/jillheinerth Social: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JillHeinerth LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jillheinerth Instagram: @JillHeinerth Twitter: @JillHeinerth *Some of the product links used may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase In the fall of 2018, I was shooting a film called Under Thin Ice for the Nature of Things on CBC. My colleague and fellow filmmaker Mario Cyr, suggested that we work together to get a shot of a polar bear swimming in the open water. As the icons of climate change, these amazing animals normally hunt on top of the ice, but climate change has forced them into the water to find food - a sevenfold increase of time in the water over the ice. Polar bears can swim 10 kph for 10 days without stopping for food or rest. A plan was hatched. Once we found "the right bear" we would roll out of our Moosehead canoe and use it block the view of the polar bear. We were wearing a significant amount of lead weight to ensure we could escape by descending deep if we had to. When we were ready with two cameras in the water, our skilled guide Solomon Maliki backed up the boat so the bear could see our heads on the surface. They bear was quite distant, but as soon as he spotted us, he quickly turned and bolted full speed in our direction. I suppose our heads looked like seal heads bobbing on the surface. I waited with a racing heart until Mario yelled "DIVE!!!" I plunged beneath the surface trying to get a shot of the bear as it swam overhead. In the rushing tidal currents, this proved to be quite difficult. I came home with some marvelous shots of the polars closing in and if you want to see the video footage, check out our film or download the app "Discover the Arctic," which is free and available on both Android and Mac platforms.