Polar Bear and Ivory Gull
Ivory Gulls are dependent on Polar Bears and often follow them around waiting to pick up leftovers from their kills. Even during winter when there is 24 hour darkness Ivory Gulls will follow Polar Bears. This type of biological relationship is known as commensalism (which literally means dining at the same table), where one creature benefits from a relationship but the other derives neither benefit nor harm. I photographed this Polar Bear with its attendant Ivory Gull in the pack ice north of Svalbard. On very rare occasions Ivory Gulls wander from the arctic to Britain where they are usually associated with an animal carcass, such as a dead porpoise.
Polar Bear and Ivory Gull
Ivory Gulls are dependent on Polar Bears and often follow them around waiting to pick up leftovers from their kills. Even during winter when there is 24 hour darkness Ivory Gulls will follow Polar Bears. This type of biological relationship is known as commensalism (which literally means dining at the same table), where one creature benefits from a relationship but the other derives neither benefit nor harm. I photographed this Polar Bear with its attendant Ivory Gull in the pack ice north of Svalbard. On very rare occasions Ivory Gulls wander from the arctic to Britain where they are usually associated with an animal carcass, such as a dead porpoise.