Mark Parnell, Diminishing returns in the Arctic summer (ANIMAL 2023)

The Svalbard summer is not kind to polar bears, who eke out a marginal existence. The first photo shows a scrawny mother finding food for her two cubs in the bones of a whale carcass. The second, two bears grumpily facing off as they await on barren beaches for the ice to return. The third, a lone bear scavenging a treasure from the sea: some rotten blubber.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.