An adult polar bear sits up on its hind legs, to catch a scent. Their sense of smell assists in hunting seals for food.
Young polar bears play fighting on sea ice, seen from a research vessel off of Svalbard. The blood is from eating seal.
Two 'cubs of the year' carefully follow their mother as she jumps sea ice floes in search of food for them.
A polar bear catches a harp seal and drags it onto an ice floe to eat -near Baffin Island
An adult polar bear sleeping on a snow covered pressure ridge on sea ice north of Svalbard
A scientist measures the length of a tranquilised polar bear on a frozen fjord in Svalbard.
A scientist examines the teeth of a tranquilised polar bear. The teeth reveal the bear's health, age and history
A paw print of a polar bear on snow covered sea ice
A helicopter pilot assists a researcher to roll a tranquilised polar bear onto a cradle before weighing
Four people lift the tranquilized polar bear for weighing, this simple system is lightweight to carry in a helicopter
Scientists use a dart to take a biopsy from the polar bear, containing a sample of fur, skin and tissue.
A polar bear next to a break or 'lead' in the ice looking for food like seals which may be in the water.
The typical habitat of a Svalbard polar bear -the long view shows their solitary existence.
An adult polar bear investigates the sea ice surface by scratching away snow cover
A solitary polar bear walks across an expansive ice field, part of a frozen fjord on Svalbard
Fresh deep paw prints in a snow and ice covered fjord, show the direction of a polar bear’s travel.
The sea ice environment is a good platform to hunt from, with some open water like this is perfect to find seals.
An adult polar bear rubs its nose and neck in the snow, photographed on sea ice north of the archipelago of Svalbard.
A mother and young cub on sea ice
A polar bear eats the left over carcus of a seal -bears will prioritise the fat when feeding
A polar bear sleeps on the edge of a sea ice floe in the Fram Strait north of the archipelago of Svalbard.
Copy of front page of Sunday Times Magazine showing polar bear story