Arctic Animals: A Celebration of Survival

For six months of each year during the last two decades, photographer-naturalist Bruemmer reportedly has traveled throughout the ArcticCanada eastward to Siberia and Alaska. He has camped alone on the tundra, joined scientists on field trips, talked with native hunters and fishermen. In a companion volume to Arctic World, he here presents an engrossing account of Arctic wildlife, focusing on strategies of survival. To help readers understand the evolution and adaptation to a harsh environment, Bruemmer starts his narrative with a look at the closing days of the Ice Age. He examines the impact of man in historic times, pointing out that human survival in these latitudes depended on Arctic animals. He turns to specifics: insulationlayers of fat on sea mammals and polar bears, hollow hair shafts on caribou, dense fur on muskoxen; smaller animals use snow as shelter; some birds have a heat-saving circulation system in addition to waterproof feathers. Bruemmer discusses the richness of life in polar seas and the threat of pollution; his dazzling photographs underline his reminder that this great wilderness, this fragile ecosystem, must be protected. (September)