NatGeo photographer to talk about Arctic, polar bears

National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen says he will share some near-death experiences, spectacular photographs of polar bears and his personal view on the environmental threats to the Arctic when he speaks here Tuesday night.

"The ice is melting at a rapid rate and if we lose the Arctic, we'll lose the polar bears," says Nicklen who was born in a small Inuit community in Canada's Arctic.

This award-winning photographer will offer a glimpse of the wonders of the polar landscape during his "Polar Obsession" presentation at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

His stunning photographs and tales of how he got them are the first of four "National Geographic Live" presentations coming to the Straz in the coming weeks.

Other events in the series include "Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in a Modern World" on Feb. 22 with cultural anthropologist Wade Davis; "National Geographic Live: Face to Face With Steve McCurry, Photographer" on March 29; and "National Geographic Live! My Wild Life with Mireya Mayor, Wildlife Conservationist" on April 19.

Regularly priced tickets start at $25 or all four lectures start at $86.70. Go to www.tbpac.org or call by calling (813) 229-7827.

Nicklen, who spent his early years hunting and traveling the frozen north, was a biologist before he started specializing in photographing the Arctic and its inhabitants. Since 1995 he has braved freezing waters and harsh environments to get close to his subjects.

In a telephone interview Friday, he said he was already in Florida swimming with and photographing manatees at Crystal Springs. "Some of the other divers here are complaining about how cold it is, they should try diving in the Arctic," he joked.

He says this National Geographic Live! series is a first for Florida. "Most people will never see a polar bear in the wild so here's a chance to look at these magnificent animals," he says.

Some of Nicklen's other encounters include an amazing face-off with a female leopard seal, a powerful animal that could have easily killed him. But instead, she started offering him food, bringing him penguins that she had killed, This encounter and others can be seen on YouTube.

Nicklen, who is one of about 50 freelance photographers that work for National Geographic, says he is "not a tree-hugging environmentalist" but he does believe that the planet is warming up and the wildlife in Arctic is in danger.

"I want people to go away with a sense of appreciation for the wildlife that may disappear some day if the ice continues to melt," he says.

Nicklen, who lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, with his wife, has tracked Stellar sea lions in the Aleutian Islands and dived with minke whales off Australia's coral reefs.