As the latest in what is becoming a series of pre-Dark Ice Project articles and in response to a Twitter request, let's talk polar bears. Always a tough subject since these magnificent carnivores are under severe threat across the majority of their arctic range and any conflict between them and humans can only be due to us invading their habitat. Given this and once it has been accepted that an expedition will enter the realm of the polar bear, precautions must be taken to try and limit the chances of problems arising. Bears are large, powerful and effective predators and they have an extreme annual lifecycle. This involves adapting their behaviour to the fluctuations of the arctic seasons; fasting through the less plentiful part of the year and frantic feeding and social behaviour for the remainder. The Dark Ice Project will be travelling on sea ice in a high risk area of the Nares Strait. The region has a polynya (open water where seals and other bear prey collect), coastline where dens can be dug and areas with a combination of consolidated ice and fractured ice with leads (cracks which leave water/thin ice exposed). There are a number of things that we can do protect ourselves, and the bears, from a confrontation that would almost certainly end fatally for one or both of us. These are in an escalating series, from initial action to a last resort. 1. Knowledge of polar bear behaviour This can include avoiding likely polar bear