Copyright Forbes
Few environments test life as brutally as polar regions. Here, temperatures drop well below freezing, winds can exceed hurricane force and daylight can disappear for months on end. Yet, even in these extremes, evolution has allowed some creatures to not just survive, but thrive in these regions. This year’s Nature’s Best Photography contest featured a stunning suite of polar images, and the four below stand out for both aesthetic and biological reasons. Here’s what’s happening behind these breathtaking winter scenes — where snow and ice are as much protagonists as the animals themselves. 1. Polar Bear In Snowstorm (Hudson Bay, Canada) Biologically, this scene is a testament to insulation engineering by evolution. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) possess two layers of fur and a layer of fat or blubber that can measure more than 10 cm thick. Perhaps the most common polar bear misnomer is their famous white fur — but, in reality, it’s translucent enough to reflect light, which helps it camouflage perfectly in the snow and ice. Beneath that fur, their skin is black, which is useful for their absorption of the sun’s heat. As a 2018 study from Science explains, their metabolic adaptations are extreme. Even in a blistering windchill, a polar bear can still manage to overheat if they over-exert themselves physically. In turn, this makes heat and energy conservation a critical factor to their survival in the cold. MORE FOR YOU 2. Emperor Penguins (Queen Maud Land, Antarctica) Here, we see emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in motion: two sliding across the ice on their bellies — an adorable behavior known as “tobogganing” — and another launching rocket-like from the water. In the distance, a colony gathers near an immense ice cliff. Emperors are vertebrate endurance champions. They can dive to depths that exceed 1,600 feet (500 meters), and can hold their breath underwater for over 20 minutes. Most fascinatingly, their bones are solid rather than hollow; this allows them to remain buoyant, while also aiding them during deep dives. On land, their unique waddling minimizes energy loss. Every calorie counts in Antarctica’s energy economy; this is especially the case during breeding season, when males fast for up to 120 days while incubating their eggs in the winter darkness. But as research from PLOS One explains, penguin huddles behave like a fluid. Individuals shift as a coordinated wave every 30 to 60 seconds, preventing freezing at the edges and overheating in the core 3. Young Polar Bear and Walrus (Svalbard, Norway) In this photo, we see a young polar bear pacing on a fragmented ice, as a walrus slips into the frigid water, beneath a golden Arctic sun. The scene is simultaneously peaceful and tense, with sunlit serenity overlaying the reality of survival. Juvenile polar bears face steep learning curves from a very young age. As inexperienced hunters, they often make the mistake of approaching large, dangerous prey, such as walruses, whose tusks and weight pose a real risk. Although adult bears may successfully take on a walrus, younger bears frequently suffer injuries or starve before mastering the necessary hunting technique. Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus), on the other hand, are ecological engineers of the Arctic seabed. As research from the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals notes, their powerful tusks and whiskers aid them in both digging and detecting benthic invertebrates, which ultimately helps in shaping various seafloor ecosystems. As seen in this image, walruses, when threatened, often retreat to the waters, as they’re safer there than on unstable ice in the presence of a predator. 4. Bull Moose (Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming) In this image, we see a bull moose standing behind what appears to be a photographer’s camera setup. The juxtaposition is as humorous as it is intriguing: a massive herbivore it its natural habitat, confidently inserting itself into a human-crafted world — and, ultimately, photobombing it. Moose (Alces alces) are icons of northern forests and snow-laden wetlands. Their physiology is tailored to cold: they have long legs for deep-snow travel, dense fur for trapping insulating air and a remarkable nose. Moose endure long winters by moderating heat loss through one of the most specialized nasal systems in mammals. Their nasal cavities function as heat exchangers, warming cold air before it reaches the lungs and recovering heat from exhaled breath. This design reduces energetic demand in frozen conditions. In sub-zero conditions, they conserve energy by moving slowly and browsing selectively, often resting under thermal shelter from conifers. Yet moose increasingly share landscapes with humans, leading to rising encounters — documented most often through photographs, though few are as unique as this one.
