Stalked by a polar bear

by John Aitchison for Svalbard's ice giants, 8 August 2008

The only really safe way to get close to a polar bear is to be on a skidoo or boat, ready for a quick getaway.

Polar bears have a taste for eggs so Arctic terns don't welcome them in their colonies. Cameraman John Aitchison and his guide Steinar were filming in a tern colony when they saw a bear between them and their boat. The polar bear has a reputation as the only animal on land to actively hunt humans and they can easily outrun a person, so they couldn't take any chances.

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A polar bear sniffs out Frozen Planet film makers from across a tern colony

John was part of an early trip to Svalbard in summer 2008 when the team went to film the explosion of breeding birdlife and the polar bears that feed on them.

In the large empty landscapes of the Arctic tundra programme makers sometimes find themselves approached by inquisitive predators unused to seeing humans. While filming in the Canadian Barrenlands, Chadden Hunter discovers that he's being watched by a white wolf.