Polar bear fur isn't actually white

Each polar bear guard hair is transparent and pigment-free, with a hollow core. The hairs scatter visible light the same way snow and ice do, so the bear looks white. Underneath all that fur, polar bear skin is black.

You may have heard that the hollow hairs work like fiber-optic cables, piping sunlight down to the skin. Researchers tested that idea and found the fur absorbs most UV light and passes very little energy to the skin.

Every fall, polar bears gather along the coast near Churchill, Manitoba, waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze. Once the ice is solid, they head out onto it to hunt ringed and bearded seals.

Wear the Polar Bear Christmas

A mother polar bear and her tumbling cub pad along a frozen shore under teal northern lights, past a little trapper's cabin strung with lights.

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