Cory Richards/National Geographic/Getty
As our boat bobs in a windy, iceberg-filled cove, I try to gauge the skinniness of the polar bear in front of me. It isn’t plump, but I’ve certainly seen bears in worse health.
We’re in Franz Josef Land, a remote part of Russia that sits between the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean. Many biologists consider this 192-island archipelago one of the least damaged polar ecosystems we have left. There are high numbers of polar bears, walruses, and seabirds at this …