PHOTOS: Polar Bear Photographer Posts Precious, Smithsonian Award-Winning Images of Mama and Cubs
Baby it’s cold outside, and we feel like shirking all responsibilities and adopting hibernation as a life strategy, but these polar bears are helping us make it through.
Unlike some other bears, these white wonders embrace the cold. It’s an important, optimistic message for those of us heading into the cruel months of winter. These shots were taken by Canadian photographer Daisy Gilardini, who spent this past year capturing what polar bears do when they exit their dens in February and March.
One of her shots, Motherhood, a photo of one of the giant animals maternally cuddling her cubs, won this year’s Grand Prize for the Smithsonian’s 14th Annual Photo Contest, besting more than 20,000 other international submissions. The photo will be on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., for the next year.
According to the CBC, Gilardini took the shot while the bears were on their way to hunt for seals in Manitoba. She was only a hundred yards away, but didn’t feel threatened by the mother bear.
The photographer took plenty of photos of the polar bear family, staying out in -65 Fahrenheit temperatures to capture the frolicking trio.
The family was one of several Gilardini shot during her time at Wapusk National Park, where she patiently waited for the bears to emerge from their winter dens to photograph their first playful steps back into the wild.
Gilardini hopes her shots inspire others to protect the Earth’s stunning species and landscapes.
