Cliff-Climbing Polar Bear Attempting to Eat Seabird Eggs

Cliff-Climbing Polar Bear Attempting to Eat Seabird Eggs

Nature, first prize singles

July 30, 2011

A young male polar bear climbs on a cliff face above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie, in northern Novaya Zemlya, Russia, attempting unsuccessfully to feed on eggs from the nests of Brünnich’s guillemots, in late July. The location falls within the Russkaya Arktika National Park, covering more than 46,000 square kilometers of islands and sea in the Arctic Ocean, one of the largest protected areas in the northern hemisphere.

A polar bear’s primary prey is the seal, the blubber satisfying the bear’s enormous energy needs. Bears hunt seals from sea-ice platforms, and also use ice floes to move from place to place. In summer months, when much sea ice melts, polar bears can become stranded, and have to forage for what food they can. Their dependence on sea-ice platforms for food, traveling, and also for breeding, makes polar bears vulnerable to the effects of climate warming. In 2011, the volume of Arctic sea ice was 66 percent lower than the average documented from 1979 through 2010.

Location: Ostrova Oranskie, Novaya Zemlya, Russia

Photo Credit: Jenny E. Ross

Jenny E. Ross is a freelance photographer specializing in wildlife, natural history, conservation, ecosystems, environmental issues, scientific research, and related cultural and policy topics.

Her photographs, often accompanied by her essays, have been displayed in many exhibitions and widely published throughout the world, in books, magazines, science journals, and newspapers. Publications featuring her work include National Geographicmagazine and other National Geographic Society publications; the scientific journals Arctic, Nature, Nature Geoscience, Science, BBC Wildlife magazine, as well as BBC Books and BBC News, National Wildlife magazine and other National Wildlife Federation publications, Nature’s Best magazine, and Ocean Geographicmagazine.

Ross is known for her compelling editorial work, educational exhibitions, and lecture-slideshow presentations, combining photographs with scientific information. She frequently collaborates with researchers in a wide variety of disciplines ranging from biology, ecology, and paleontology to geophysics, oceanography, and cryosphere science. In her work, Ross strives to capture the essence of wild animals and wild places, to explain scientific research to non-scientists, raise awareness of environmental issues, inspire concern and action for wildlife conservation and ecosystem protection, and elicit greater appreciation of the natural world and heightened understanding of the essential connections between human beings and nature.

Ross has particular expertise relating to the world’s eight species of bears, especially polar bears, as well as Arctic climate change issues. She has worked extensively in many regions of the Arctic and sub-Arctic for more than a decade, and has an ongoing, long-term project Life On Thin Ice™. In addition to the World Press Photo award, she has been honored in the Pictures of the Year International awards, as well as receiving numerous other accolades including the Nature’s Best Award for Wildlife Photography, the Philip Hyde Award for Environmental Photography, and the Vision Award of the North American Nature Photography Association.

She is an Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. Jenny’s educational background at Stanford University and Harvard Law School included biology, environmental studies, philosophy of science, art, law, and public policy. Previously a practicing attorney, she ultimately chose to leave the law and dedicate herself to photography and writing, emphasizing editorial work as well as projects related to public outreach and education.