They are supremely adapted to an incredibly harsh, unforgiving, and desolate environment. They are not merely traversing the ice, but are heading directly toward us in search of food. When they get within 1,000 meters of our ship, we must persuade them to go elsewhere as humanely and safely as possible. With respect to the predation of adult male bears on cubs, I'm told that the likelihood of any given male bear being the father of any given cub is very small, so any adult male would try to kill any cub in order to advance his genes. Bears do not mate for life and they do not recognize their progeny.
Nature is harsh.
Much harsher than our snowmobiles and helicopters. I'm curious about the fortitude of anyone that can spend large amounts of time in an isolated environment. Well I guess we must all be a little crazy or we wouldn't be here. I can't say enough about the wonderfully supportive crew of the Des Groseilliers. They have made every effort to ensure our mission is a success.