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Comment by notjustanymike | Hacker News Reader

I looked at the photos first, in awe of the photographer's bravery. Then I read the article and it made more sense; technology is neat!

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The excerpt for how the photographer captured the photos: "It was too dangerous to land on the island that day, so I took pictures from a drone equipped with special low-noise propellers. I also used certain tricks of the trade that allowed me to shoot the animals without disturbing them. After a while, the bears practically ignored the unusual buzzing."

PBS has a couple of series on wildlife photography technology (on Wed evenings before NOVA).

One series uses attachable cameras optimized for land-sea-air creatures.

Another series puts cameras inside of robo-creatures of the target species.

Biologists learn lots of new things.

Telescopic lens could have achieved even a better result, if there is direct line of sight.

Not if he wanted to preserve the wide-angle perspective, which imo is extremely important for this subject matter.

Not from a boat

From my extensive knows of the subject - based entirely only watching nature shows on TV - photographers in such situations have an experienced hunter with a rife beside them.

Drones are a bit more effective nowadays. Far less cost and danger associated with the entire operation. It's usually about outcomes not adventure.

I'm not sure if you've ever been around a drone but the sound they make is god aweful and impossible to avoid with the amount of RPMs they have to make.

For skittish animals, drones are still a no-go

As stated in the article, he used low-noise propellers, and eventually the bears just ignored him. If he's using a modern drone, it probably has a zoom lens on it.

I've filmed a black bear and her cub with my DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, and never really came closer than 60 metres or so away from them. They didn't even notice the drone. I used low-noise props that change the pitch of the sound as well. Here's my video (I'm an amateur!) from a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyEPvcLOTUk

However, if you check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JHyUieKqoU you'll see some video from the author/photographer of these Polar bears. And at one point the bear is heading directly for the drone. I'm sure his curiosity would result in a swatting of the drone if the pilot didn't move back as he approached. I think he's closer than I would dare, but I don't know what equipment he's using.

There was a bit in the making of the bbc show planet earth where the photographers were confronted by a ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ at their front door which is a very good example of a measured response.

found it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mODlsphGbLw

Those houses must smell awful by now! I doubt the bears are litter box trained.

I imagine once they start a "bathroom" room it would go downhill, but I don't know polar bear relief psychology

Don't know what to cite, but I'm pretty sure it is a basic instinct to animals that settle in a regular shelter NOT to shit where they live (at least regularly)

It’s common knowledge that they go in the woods.

That must be why polar bears are so grumpy. Not a lot of woods in the arctic circle!

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