Myth Debunked: Polar bears are white

At first glance, polar bears look like a very clear shade of white. But if you look at where the thick hair parts and the skin is revealed you will see that the skin is actually black.
So why do polar bears have dark skin in the snow-covered Arctic? The advantages of black skin are two-fold. First, dark colours absorb more heat. Secondly, darker skin gives better protection from UV rays. Sunlight in the Arctic is very intense as it is reflected off the snow, ice and water.

The hair of polar bears is also not white but transparent. The air spaces within each hair scatter light from the whole colour spectrum and thus our eyes perceive the colour as white.
While we’re here, let’s debunk a bonus polar bear myth: you might have heard the ‘fun fact’ that bears put their paws in front of their black noses so that they become completely camouflaged while stalking their prey. This behaviour has never been seen! What we do know is that they’re fast and fearsome hunters that do not require such tricks to catch a seal!