The 2023 iteration of Natural History Museum's prestigious annual competition, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, has recently announced the recipient for its People's Choice Award: British amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani and his photo of a male polar bear napping in a small patch of an iceberg he dubbed "Ice Bed."
'Ice Bed': Nima Sarikhani's Hope Against Climate Change
In NHM's release regarding the award, Sarikhani said that he spent three days on an expedition ship looking around the Svalbard Archipelago in Norway to find polar bears to photograph, with a thick fog being the biggest nuisance during the search.
However, his luck turned for the better when he, and the ship he was on, came across a pair of polar bears. The two were comprised of a younger and an older male, and both were wandering on top of a span of sea ice.
As night peaked, the younger of the two bears decided to hit the hay-or in this case-the snow. It fashioned itself a bed made of snow from a small iceberg under the sparse light of the midnight sun, before fully snoozing on.
Of the momentous shot, Sarikhani said: "I am so honored to have won this year's People's Choice award for Wildlife Photography of the Year, the most prestigious wildlife photography competition. This photograph has stirred strong emotions in many of those who have seen it."
Indeed, many people were enthralled by the heartwrenching and enthralling scene that Sarikhani was able to capture. In his Instagram post featuring the photo, praise rained from average people and fellow wildlife photographers alike.
For one, Spanish wildlife photographer Marina Cano said of the photo: "A winner. Speaks volumes! And you got my vote."
"Breathtaking in the beauty but even more so in the sorrow. His world is melting away around him," another commented.
The Polar Bears and Their Slowly Melting Home
According to the release, the Svalbard islands are home to one of the world's 19 distinct populations of polar bears.
That said, that home is slowly crumbling away as the region has become warmer by three to five Celsius starting from the 1970s, resulting in the thinning of ice platforms in the area.
As quoted by NHM, the Norwegian Polar Institute Researcher Dr. Jon Aars said: "The period with sea ice over shallower water in much of the area is now much shorter than it was a few decades ago."
"While the bears that follow sea ice may still be able to hunt year-round, this is increasingly over deeper waters which may be less productive," he added. "While the bears that follow sea ice may still be able to hunt year-round, this is increasingly over deeper waters which may be less productive."
Dr. Aars also explained that the worsening state of sea ice also negatively affects the polar bears in terms of their quality of life. For one, it increases the area they need to travel just to find a suitable area to build a den on.
In the past they used to travel eastward towards important areas, however, the thinning ice made it impossible to reach, so they now opt for an area that is just over a hundred kilometers closer to the North Pole.
As for the photograph, Sarikhani hopes people see it as a reprieve from the impending danger, saying, "Whilst climate change is the biggest challenge we face, I hope that this photograph also inspires hope. There is still time to fix the mess we have caused."
