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~