You can see her spirit in her souful eyes.
She has many names, Glacier Bear, Ghost Bear, Spirit Bear.
She is a Leucistic Alaskan Glacier Black Bear with black skin and translucent/pale fur, and is one of the rarest animals on earth. She is rarely seen or photographed and her population amongst Alaskan Black Bears is less then 1%.
She is more rare than her cousins, The Spirit Bears in British Columbia, and we watched her for about half an hour from a skiff on The Chilcat River Eagle Preserve near Haines Alaska..
She was entirely unafraid and very curious about us.
I now know why indigenous people’s call her Ghost Bear, even up close, and we were close, she has a gauzy, ghostlike, appearance.
We are on a three generation trip to Canada and Alaska, introducing the seven year old twin grandsons to all the wonder.
But none of us, including my camera and I, were prepared for the the most amazing wonder of them all. I forgot all about my camera settings since I have never photographed a glacial ghost bear before!
Cheers to you from soulful Spirit of Alaska~
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Wonderful! Thank you for sharing this, Cindy!💗
Sending you my best wishes from Münster, 🤗 Hang
Best wishes and thank yous flying back to you in Munster ꨄ︎
So well discovered and photographed with apt captions – soulful indeed
You are very kind and most appreciated Derrick. Thank you ꨄ︎
What a beautiful bear (and such amazing photos).
So kind & so appreciated. Thanks much ꨄ︎
She’s absolutely gorgeous! I’m glad you were able to capture her.
She is wonderful isn’t she. Happy you like her & cheers ꨄ︎
Wow, amazing photos as always!! I love the way you’ve captured the gentle, yet confident facial expressions. Honestly, it’s like I’m right there with you looking at her! Thanks so much for sharing. 🐻🌸
Thank you much more for your kind appreciation & I am so pleased you enjoyed her ꨄ︎
Cindy, Wow! These are amazing images of this rare bear. What an incredible experience!
Yes. We were beyond enthralled by her. Thanks much & cheers to you ꨄ︎
Thank you for sharing the beautiful bear and the special experience of encountering her. She is so beautiful!
You are so very welcome. She is a beauty ꨄ︎
Wonderful capture of a unique and rare animal. Thanks for sharing this!
Thank you more for appreciating her & thanks for stopping by ꨄ︎
How marvellous. I’ve never even heard of these bears. I hope she raises cubs.
Hi Katie. I hope so too! ꨄ︎
What great captures! She is a beauty!
So appreciated. Thanks much Stockdale ꨄ︎
What a wonderful experience! So glad you were able to take photos – and share them!
You make me happy I posted them Sam. Thank you ꨄ︎
Apparently she is too shy to appear in more populated areas.
Yes. Clever girl! Great to hear from you Alexander ꨄ︎
Thank you Cindy. Enjoy your trip and Family!🙏
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Your three generation expedition sounds absolutely fabulous! Imagine having an opportunity to see a Ghost Bear in Alaska when you are a seven-year-old boy with your twin brother. Unforgettable. A memory maker, as my mother used to say.
I have never seen a bear like this before. I see the spirit in her eyes. Thank you, my friend, for sharing.
Yes. Of course you would see the spirit in her eyes Sheila. I feel sorry for the people who don’t. Love to you and your beautiful grandbabies my friend & wonderful to hear from you ꨄ︎
What a fascinating creature! Have a wonderful and safe trip with your family, the 7 year old twins must be showered with 3 generations of family love.
Thank you dear friend. Yes the twins know lots of people love them hugely. Best to you and your beautiful family ꨄ︎
Fantastic captures. What an amazing experience. I’ve never seen this type of bear before.
And I certainly never expected to see or spend time with such amazement. She was a heart breaker ꨄ︎
There is definitely a mystic aura in the ghost bears, the eyes are telling a thousand story. Thanks for sharing the amazing clicks of the rare animal!
I am grateful that you appreciate this very soulful creature & thank you very much ꨄ︎
What a phenomenal experience. I can quite understand the forgetting of camera settings – when I first saw the Grand Canyon I left the lens cap on! These are marvellous photographs Cindy of a creature I had never heard of. You twin grandsons have been given a forever memory.
Cracking up re the lens cap. Thank you for making me laugh & be very well my friend ꨄ︎
What a fabulous trip and introduction to the amazing world of nature that you are such a part of. 💖
Hi Val! Wonderful to hear from you and thanks much my friend. We are in Seward now looking for puffins. Hope all is well with you & thank you for stopping by ꨄ︎
Wow! The bear does look like a ghost. You were very lucky to be a witness. How can the twins be seven already?
Smiling…. I wonder this too. They still are totally precious children, like all amazing children, as you so very well know. Be well Jennie ꨄ︎
Gorgeous bear photos, looks elegant
Thank you. She was winsome, curious and timid, but also brave ꨄ︎
Her fur looked amazingly different too giving her character, or him if a boy bear
Smiling…. Yes I very much agree. So much personality.
That is such a beautiful and mystical bear. Powerful photos.
Thank you Georgina. Hope all is well with you ꨄ︎
All good personally in the UK and Spain!
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Wow! I think I’d be in tears the entire time. Such a magical creature.
Yes. It is hard to describe feeling awestruck. Be well Bridgette ꨄ︎
Cindy—I am so excited for you to be on such an adventure with your family!! And what a gift for you all to see this ‘Ghost Bear’! Great pictures, by the way–thank you for sharing these moments with us all! And I’m praying God gives you many such rare and wondrous moments to share with your family–and with the rest of us! 🙂
God Bless you and your family Katie & thank you my friend ꨄ︎
What an incredible experience, and even better to share it with your extended family!
I love my extended family! They make the experience richer. Thank you very much & cheers to you ꨄ︎
Amazing pictures, lovely and beautiful Cindy!
Much appreciated. Thank you very much ꨄ︎
What a stunning capture, Cindy! An experience of a lifetime! ❤️
Thanks much Eugi. We are still pondering it ꨄ︎
You’re welcome, Cindy.
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What a beautiful experience. Thankyou for sharing – both photos and thoughts.
Thank you more for your thoughtful comments and cheers to you ꨄ︎
She is a very beautiful bear, so ghostly and pretty😀
So great to hear from you! Isn’t she amazing. Cheers to you & hope all is well with you ꨄ︎
What an extraordinary experience, Cindy. I’m so glad you could share it across family generations.
She’s lovely. I’ve not heard of one before, and hearing how rare they are, I imagine you drank in every moment in her presence. I want to reach out and pet her.
It was a once in a lifetime experience that we are still processing. She was absolutely endearing and very shy. Lovely to hear from you Alys & thanks for stopping by ꨄ︎
I’m in awe of this sort of thing. I’m glad you could capture these gorgeous photos. Her personality shines through.
Yes. We are still in awe, and you are so right, her personality shined. Thank you.
Wow absolutely beautiful.. bears are my favorite to paint and I love them… my mom and grandpa were able to go to an island in alaska to photograph bears .. I think it was katmai maybe.. it was a lottery u had to be in to get there.. the photos were absolutely amazing. What a beautiful thing for grandkids to experience with you.
Yes, the Katmai bears are legendary. Lucky relatives to see them. Bears are amazing creatures. Very pleased you enjoyed & cheers ꨄ︎
I love bears thank you so much.
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One of those rare wildlife encounters that stay with you.
(I would be very wary of meeting a bear on a trail, but on a skiff? Probably safe?)
That bear looks young. Hence the curiosity? (But I may be wrong.)
Enjoy the wilderness.
So good to hear from you and yes. The fact we were in a skiff entirely changed the nature of the interaction. Neither we or the bear felt threatened. Hope all is well with you and yours ꨄ︎
Such a beautiful animal. And those eyes–so much being said there. Wonderful pictures and experience.
I am glad you see the messages in her eyes. We did too. She was a heart breaker. Such a winsome creature. Thank you Michele ꨄ︎
Amazing! What a wonderful surprise!
Yes! It was a miraculous experience. Thank you & cheers ꨄ︎
Hi Cindy, thank you for a wonderful post! Best, Charles
Your thoughtfulness is so very appreciated Charles. Thank you & be well my friend ꨄ︎
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Honored by your kindness Charles.
Cheers, Spirit Bear!
Very nicely told, Cindy.
James
Thank you very much James & cheers to you ꨄ︎
Wow these photos are great and I did not know about the Glacier Bear. As I understand it is a subspecies of the American black bear. Another subspecies of the American black bear, the cinnamon bear, I saw in Yellowstone National Park. We watched it for a very long time and it did not mind.
How amazing that you spent time with a cinnamon bear and how special! Glacier Bears comprise .04% of The Alaskan Black Bear population. They are rare indeed. Any time in the presence of these gorgeous creatures is amazing ꨄ︎
A beautiful experience and a very special story. You can really feel the admiration for nature, and that moment of encountering such a rare animal seems like something that stays with you for life.
You have introduced me to a beauty I shall further research. There certainly is something special in her eyes besides her light. Perhaps you are right in a previous comment – maybe she was lonely. Despite mostly solitary lives, I have known a couple of raccoons to get lonely, and my lizards & frog have. Animals do get lonely in their way. I’m so glad that you’ve shared this. Have fun everyone! Hope the little ones remember more than they forget about this trip 🙂
Hi Dawn! Wonderful to hear from you my friend. She has a lovely shy personality. I think we would have been there all day if another boat hadn’t pulled up. Hope all is well with you my friend and thanks for stopping by ꨄ︎
AWESOME!!! Looks like a larger-than-life teddy bear! How wonderful that you got to go with your twin grandsons, an adventure they will never forget!
Blessings!
❤️carmen
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Love your QT’s!!! They look like just like her! Cheers to you Carmen & take good care ꨄ︎
Amazing…beautifully captured.Hope you guys had a wonderful trip😊
So appreciated! Thank you very much & cheers to you ꨄ︎
What a beautiful and thoughtful creature. You were very lucky to see her.
Yes, she has a wonderfully pensive quality doesn’t she. We were very lucky to spend time with her. Hope all is well with you Emma & thank you for stopping by ꨄ︎
Love the photos and the information!
So happy you do & thank you Mary! ꨄ︎
What an experience! The photos are amazing, Cindy.
So very please you enjoyed Becky & thanks much! ꨄ︎
What a neat trip with the younger generation. I wonder what they will have to say at show and tell when they are back in school. Through your eyes, I have been able to view a rarity in nature. Thank you, lovely lady for a thoughtful post! oxox
Thank you more Mary Ann for your delightfully thoughtful comment! Hope all is well with you and yours my friend ꨄ︎
You are very welcome. I would probably do that trip too someday! Awaiting our 4th grandchild, a boy this month. How has your weather been for the trip? Peace. oxox
How exciting. You will be busy. Weather is good. Take good care my friend.
Enjoy your grandchildren and trip. Peace to you and yours. oxox
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Wow!!!! What a stunning bear and perfect photos of it. Just wow! I hope the twins enjoyed this view as well.
Hi Marlene! Thank you my friend. Wonderful to hear from you. It was definitely a full bore goosebumps experience. Hope all is well with you ꨄ︎
I’m better than anyone expected so I have no complaints. 🙂
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Watched the pictures with fascination as I’d never seen a Leucistic Alaskan Glacier Black Bear before.
Beautiful! 🙏🏻💛
Very pleased you enjoyed. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity ꨄ︎
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Enjoyed photos and information about this unique looking bear!
Very happy you did and thanks for letting me know ღ
You’re welcome!
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Amazing, gorgeous and beautiful. Thank you so very much
Ah, thank you much more ღ
What a beautiful animal, Cindy. I had not heard of a glacier bear, so thanks for the information and amazing pictures.
Oh, thank you so much more Carla for appreciating this amazing bear & take good care ღ
Oh my goodness! What an absolute GIFT that this bear came out to visit, and it’s gorgeous! I’ve never heard or seen this type before!
How sweet he looks! Somewhat shy, yet curious! And willing to risk a little bit, just to come say hello! 😍🥰
Thank you for sharing some of your wonderful trip with us!
Peach
Thank you so much more Peach for understanding, everything. Be safe & well ღ