Ivory Gulls are sometimes named the "Ghosts of the Arctic".
The most interesting but hard encouter of our trip to Svalbard was an adult male polar bear feeding on an approx. 3 year old polar bear.
After the adult polar bear left the scene, the carcass was occupied by some Ivory Gulls. The scene and the flat light really proved their name as Ghosts of the Arctic.
Canon 5DII, 4.0/400DO IS, 1.4xII, 320ISO, f7.1, 1/640sec
It certainly tells a story of nature...and fortunately, even with the young polar bears passing, it served the purpose of allowing others to continue on with their existence.
I know how tough Ivory Gulls are to photograph in flight against snow...the only thing I would have wished for was to have a darker patch of snow / ice behind the right wing for contracts, but obviously, it is presented as the scene existed.
It is a very raw scene of life and death but it is just the way nature is and I like the story that it tells instead of the fact of the dramatism of the photograph. Thanks for sharing
Excellent story telling image. I hope you'll show the bear on bear interaction in the wildlife section as well. That must have been spectacular. Cruel, but as wild as wildlife can be.
Ghost of the Arctic
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