POLAR BEARS!!!!

The REAL reason I came to Barrow is to go polar bear hunting.....not to hunt and kill, but to stalk, follow, and take pictures. The whole time I have been here, my eyes have been wide open.
Last Saturday night, I spent the whole night at the northern most tip of the United States with my binoculars waiting for polar bears. There is a gigantic pile of whale bones that the natives place out there after removing all of the meat after each whaling season. Due to global warming, the polar bears are forced out of hibernation earlier and must look for food in the villages. The natives place the whale bones out away from town so that the bears can feast there instead of looking through dumpsters in the town. Some people think that there are more polar bears than usual because they are more visible when, in reality, there is a significantly lower number of polar bears. We just see more because they can't survive in the Arctic Ocean as easily as before. Most natives think that they should be placed on the endangered list, but that idea was lost in translation and a law to increase oil drilling was created instead....but that issue is a whole other blog. Anyway, I was sitting out at the point waiting for these bears to come nibble on the whale bones. While out there, I had a snack of whale intestine (a delicacy I am told). The whale intestine was very chewy and tasted like squid. It actually was not that bad though. I had a great time just sitting and waiting at the top of the world for some polar bears feasting on whale intestine and resting on a shot gun in case the bears came too close. Well, the bears did not show up Saturday night and I was very disappointed.
On Sunday, I was invited to a Memorial Day BBQ. Not quite the same type of BBQ I am used to in Texas, but such a great time. It gave me an opportunity to meet some of the other doctors at the hospital. It is difficult to know when the appropriate time to leave is though when it is 24 hour sunlight. I went to the BBQ around 3 and just chatted away. I was having a great time. The host then said she was tired and going to bed. When I looked at the clock, I realized it was 10:30 pm.....I thought it was maybe 7. The sun really throws me off.
Another dentist offered to take me to look at bears after this. We weren't out for 10 minutes before we spotted a mother polar bear with two cubs!!! It was amazing. They were about a half mile out on the ice. The mother was eating a seal and the two cubs were wrestling....they were small and very clumsy. The mother feasted for about 45 minutes. the ice was completely covered in the blood of the seal. The mother would periodically get on her hind legs and smell into the air. We were a little concerned that she noticed us (I am one of the LOUDEST and SMELLIEST people I know! jk, kind of) but we didn't scare her off. I was determined to get the perfect picture, but was so excited! After the mom finished eating, the two cubs nursed for about hour. I couldn't believe that we got to see all of this without scaring them off or without them noticing us.
I was so excited to see these polar bears. I have pretty much told everyone I have talked to about my bear story, including one of my patients that does not speak English, but I am sure he got the message. I am going to try to post some pics of these bears later this afternoon.
Don't worry, I did bear spray with me which is effective if the bear gets within 30 feet of you. I am pretty sure I would have peed myself and/or run away screaming before a HUGE mama bear got within 30 feet of me though.