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Coney Island polar bears, 2/3

Of the polar bears, this one caught my eye for the way in which he accessorized. Given the content of yesterday's post, it seemed doubly appropriate to feature him today. The exposure is a little dark because I was metering for the sky and the water. I didn't have time to remeter for this shot, which I quickly shot as he passed.

Looking at the photos, it's hard to tell how cold it is. Other than the skies and the somewhat barren beaches, it's not easy to tell that these photos were taken in the dead of winter, on a particularly cold day. The polar bears were casual about the cold. I saw no one shiver or run in and out of the water. They deliberately walked into and emerged from the water and walked slowly across the sand back to the building in which they left their clothes.

After witnessing the polar bears, Yw thought about joining them on New Year's day for a dip. She told me a friend of hers does it every year, and she started researching what she might need in order to do so. She pointed out the gloves that people wore to protect their fingers. In the end, she chose not to swim though she ran the midnight run New Year's Eve. That night the temperatures were in the 20s.