Hello Justin,
You might it should be noted that since the polar bear hairs are hollow they
would
have excellent insulation qualities. That would make it an ideal fur to
have living
up there in the arctic. By the way, for any of you who are interested,
Canadian
fly shops sell polar bear hair. They can get legal quantities from their
distributors.
Why? Well, it seems that the government wildlife officers end up killing a
few bears
a year that are deemed "troublesome". So they end up auctioning off the
fur. Some of
it ends up as fly tying material. So I was told by one fly shop owner in
Montreal.
It is quite sad to think that such a magnificent animal like the polar bear
may well
end up as a piece of an Atlantic salmon fly.
-Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Teegarden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2000 4:35 PM
Subject: In search of Polar BEar
> WEll, I got all excited and called the Serious Fisherman, but he is gone
"Product Testing" I tried the Site Sean referred to but they are in
Iceland, so I think Importing would be a no no. Any other sources where I
can Call and order or buy online would be great. Thanks
>
> I found this about Polar Bear AS well.
>
>
>
> First the facts. Polar bear fur appears white because it reflects all
wavelengths of visible light. However, polar bear fur does not reflect
ultraviolet (UV) light, but absorbs it so well that the animal appears black
when photographed with UV-sensitive film. Add to these facts the
observations that the hairs of polar bears are hollow and that polar bear
skin is black, and a tantalizing speculation can be posited: polar bears
channel ultraviolet light through their hollow hairs to their black skin
thereby warming the animal in the Arctic cold. The efficiency is such that
no UV light is lost to the environment - polar bear hair thus possesses
superior fiber optic properties.
>
> This example of nature's wonders soon attracted public attention. In
response, one investigator, Daniel W. Koon of St. Lawrence University,
transmitted different wavelengths of light lengthwise through polar bear
hair and reached a much different conclusion. He found losses of 99.999% for
red light travelling one inch (2.54 centimeters), and the same loss for UV
light travelling just one-fifth of an inch. Rather than the hair acting as a
light pipe transporting UV energy to the bear's skin, it was found that the
hair's protein component, keratin, absorbed almost all of the incident UV
radiation.
>
> The original observations, nevertheless, still stand. Polar bear hairs
(along with keratin-containing hairs from other mammals, including humans)
absorb UV light, and polar bear hairs are hollow. What these findings do
challenge is the conjecture that the hollow hairs of the polar bear act as
effective light transmitting devices.
>
>
>
> Have you gotten your free email at fishing.com or flyfishing.com? I got
mine, come get yours! Visit www.fishing.com or www.flyfishing.com to sign
up!
>
>
