Heather Latter
On the final day of a week-long trip to Churchill, Man. last October, local photographer Shannon Curtis captured an image that would earn him national recognition.
Called “Waiting for Ice,” the photo shows a sub-adult polar bear asleep on a rock—patiently awaiting the winter freeze on Hudson Bay directly behind him.
After submitting the photo in the seventh-annual Nature in Focus environmental photography competition held by CBC’s “The Nature of Things” with David Suzuki, Curtis recently learned his photo placed as runner-up out of thousands of photos in the “Sacred Species” category.
But Curtis insisted he didn’t care much about the competition; he only entered the photo so he could let others see the magnificent creature.
Not only will the photo be published in the May/June edition of Harrowsmith Country Life Magazine, and be featured in a 2012 calender, Curtis is donating the print to Ducks Unlimited to be auctioned off at its annual banquet coming up Friday, May 6 at La Place Rendez-Vous (it’s already sold out).
“It’s crazy—it all just fell together,” enthused Curtis, of Curtis Denture Clinic here, noting he hadn’t even planned to go take photos on the day this one was taken since he was scheduled to be at the airport that afternoon to fly home.
“But we went out in the morning and I’m so glad I did.
“It was the best photo op I had, even though it was pouring rain and a cold, windy, ugly day,” he recalled.
Interested in wildlife and the environment, Curtis learned plenty about the polar bear species from a knowledgeable guide.
While he’s previously photographed various species of sharks, whales, seals, and turtles all over the world, this was the first time he had photographed polar bears.
“They are so amazing to watch in real life, in their natural habitat,” he stressed.
“They are such unique animals.”
Curtis said they are very large creatures, weighing as much as 1,500 pounds or more and having paws 12 inches across.
“You have to see the mark in the mud to believe its size,” he remarked.
But for being such large animals, Curtis indicated they can be quite tricky to spot.
“They hide in the willow trees,” he explained. “They lie down and you have to look hard to see them—it’ll drive you nuts.”
He added polar bears are so stealthy that you can’t hear them walking.
“And I’ve never seen an animal with so much patience,” he marvelled, noting the polar bear he photographed slept like nothing was going on around him.
Locating a polar bear was just the first challenge for Curtis while on his excursion. Lighting and weather conditions also made it difficult to shot.
But he enjoyed his trip north and would like to go again—only next time in late November when there is ice.
“I’d love to see it with ice and go out on a sled,” he enthused.
However, Curtis is aware global warming is having an effect on the polar bear population in northern Manitoba.
As their time on the floating sea ice gets shorter and shorter, polar bears are losing fat and body mass because they hunt for food on the ice and must build up enough fat to get through the summer.
While he doesn’t want it to happen, Curtis can see a localized extinction of the species in perhaps the next 50 years—or even sooner.
Curtis said he’s happy to have captured the shot of the polar bear and was honoured to have placed as runner-up. He also is thrilled to be donating the print to the local Ducks Unlimited chapter.
“This is my way of giving back to the animals,” he reasoned.
“Funds raised will go towards conservation in this country and I’m happy to see that.”
Last year, Curtis donated a photo he had snapped of a buck staring straight ahead at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park near Thunder Bay.
And like last year, he had the polar bear print produced by a printing company called Image Wizards, based in Lexington, N.C., which specializes in printing photos on aluminum.
Although the 25” x 33” photo weighs very little, the image appears 3D, showing off the intricate detail in the rocks and the amazing texture of the polar bear’s fur.
Curtis’ buck photo fetched $1,025 at last year’s banquet—and he’s hoping his polar bear print will go for even more.
