Photo / @davesandford When I speak with folks about our oceans and marine life, I find that many people often think of curling wave of turquoise, pristine white sand beaches lined with palm trees, warm tropical waters and of course fish. My focus for today’s World Oceans Day post takes us to the top of our planet, the Arctic Ocean and my favourite marine mammal, the polar bear. Yes, you heard that correctly, the polar bear – the world’s largest four-legged predator is in fact classified as a marine mammal. Why? You may ask? Because polar bears spend most of their life on the frozen Arctic Ocean. The polar bear is the only species of bear that completely relies on a marine ecosystem. The main food source of a polar bear – seals, live in the ocean. Therefore, polar bears depend on the platform of sea ice in order to hunt and catch their prey. They also depend on sea ice to travel and mate and occasionally for denning (female polar bears birthing their cubs). Sea ice is not just a platform for the bears to live on, it is also vibrant, intricate ecosystem of its own that impacts so many living beings, including you and I. From the tiniest of creatures, to the largest. Microorganisms eat the algae around the ice, fish eat the microorganisms, whales and seals eat the fish, polar bears (and people for that matter) eat the seals, whales and fish. Another reason sea ice is so important, it acts as the earths air conditioner. Arctic sea ice covers a vast area, and it is white. This allows for many of the sun’s rays to be reflected away from the planet, preventing the warmth from being absorbed into the Arctic Ocean. This in turn, helps to cool the entire planet, regulating for all living beings across the planet, no matter how far away from the Arctic you live. In celebration of #WorldOceansDay I encourage you to share this post so that others may learn of the importance of our frozen ocean. To learn more about the importance of polar bears, other marine life and of course our oceans, I encourage you to check out @polarbearsinternational & @one.blue.ocean #oneblueocean #shareccpc #explorecanada #sharecangeo #yourshotphotographer #polarbear #ocean