Watching polar bears devour a whale made me think they could survive the Arctic melt

Filming in the Alaska's Kaktovik for new Channel 4 series Polar Bear Feast dispelled every myth I held about these great predators - these opportunistic animals may yet find a way to adapt to a warming world

The massive male polar bear begins to feed. His long canines rip off chunks of bloody flesh, which he swallows with practised ease. I reflect on the efforts these magnificent predators make to track down their prey: wandering alone for days across the polar ice in the hope of catching an unwary seal.

But I'm not watching the latest BBC blockbuster, The Hunt. Indeed I'm not watching TV at all; I'm sitting on a dilapidated bus on the end of a disused airfield in northeast Alaska, barely 50 metres from not one, but dozens of polar bears.