Arctic Ice Nighttime Reflections-
Seeing at Sea

Navigating by the nighttime moonlight reflection on the water along with the night's intense Aurora Borealis colorful lights above it is extra helpful to the polar bears winter hunting migration especially in January and February night skies.  The ice floes are an ideal reflective surface for the nighttime lights.  

Polar Bears anticipate what might be moving around them by seeing sharply outlined silhouettes of its prey in different gradiantions of black and white shapes to locate its position.  Polar bears have more rods in their inner eyes which gives them the advantage to see in low light situations.  They also have two kinds of color receptors that allow them to see blue and green.

Next, the polar bear plans its movements to get closer to stalk-hunt on the ice floes or even swim in the water to reach-grab its prey.  Polar bear hunting is intelligence in action.

As a special physical advantage, polar bears have a clear, inner eyelid called a nictitating membrane that protects their eyes to help them see underwater when hunting seals and in extreme snow/wind conditions on the ice floes. 

Darkness descends at sea during the polar bears' most critical seal hunting migration.  The polar bear's exceptional sense of smell is its guiding night beacon to its vital food resources including ringed seals, bearded seals and walruses.   

If the polar bear mother and her cubs do not gain enough body weight from the seal blubber they need, they will lose strength and not survive in the arctic winter.  Sometimes, a cub losing significant weight will potentially drown at sea due to the physical hardship of trying to keep up with its mother's seal hunting or even lack of successful seal captures.