(C) Gary Coulbourne [ Taken Near: 11-15-1997 ]

During the time from late September through early November, hundreds of polar bears gather off Cape Churchill to wait for Hudson Bay to freeze so that they can venture out onto it to hunt seals. The vast majority of these animals are males. These males often form what can only be termed "friendships." No one really knows how they form, and they can last from hours to days. The bears will spend time travelling together and play fighting, as can be seen in the above photograph. The sky overhead is also very dark, the result of the formation of blankets of ice crystals in the atmosphere from water evaporating from the surface of Hudson Bay.