Polar Bear Tests a Filming Pod: Gordon Buchanan’s Encounter in Svalbard

Scottish wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan spent about 40 minutes sealed inside a small transparent box on the sea ice of Svalbard while a hungry female polar bear clawed, bit and leaned on it, searching for a way in. The encounter, filmed for the BBC series The Polar Bear Family & Me, went viral in January 2013.

The Polar Bear Family & Me on BBC Two

The Polar Bear Family & Me was a three-part series made by the BBC Natural History Unit and broadcast on BBC Two from 7 to 10 January 2013. Buchanan, presenting and filming, spent a year following a family of wild polar bears in Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago high in the Arctic. Biologist Jason Roberts guided the team, and Saritha Wilkinson directed.

The series followed a mother bear and her cubs through the seasons. To get close without putting anyone at risk, the crew used a protective pod they called the “ice cube”.

Inside the “ice cube” filming pod

The pod was a frame of reinforced steel fitted with Plexiglas panels, just big enough for Buchanan and his camera. The crew placed it near seal breathing holes, hoping to film a bear hunting. Instead, a female bear with hungry cubs picked up the human scent coming from the cage and came to investigate.

For roughly 40 to 45 minutes she circled the box, stood on her hind legs to rest her forepaws on the roof, bit at the frame and tested the panels for weak points. Buchanan described it as “a strange mixture of terror and comedy”, adding: “it felt like a monumentally stupid thing to do. But it was incredible.”

How big was the polar bear?

Viral headlines at the time called her a 1,000 kg bear. The real figure is far smaller. According to Polar Bears International, adult females weigh 150 to 295 kg, while adult males reach 350 to 590 kg. Some reports of the clip used 1,000 pounds, about 450 kg, which is in the range of a big male.

Even a mid-sized female is enormously strong. Polar bears hunt ringed and bearded seals at open leads and breathing holes in the sea ice, and a single bear can eat more than 45 kg of blubber in one sitting. Scientists estimate there are about 26,000 polar bears in the wild, and their future is tied directly to the sea ice they hunt on.

Close filming and its critics

Getting this close to wild bears had critics. Norwegian authorities reportedly notified Jason Roberts that he could be fined for disturbing the bears. Close filming of wild polar bears is a specialist job, and the pod existed precisely so that the bear could investigate without anyone getting hurt.

The BBC returned to Svalbard bears with remote cameras too: see how curious bears dealt with the BBC’s spy cameras. For bears gathering near people each autumn, read about the remote town that fills with polar bears every October, and for a very different relationship between a filmmaker and bears, meet the man who plays with grizzly bears.

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