Every year, from mid-February to mid-March, polar bears emerge from their tunnels with their four-month-old offspring for the first time.
A wildlife photographer, Daisy Gilardini, went looking for images of the cubs’ first steps last year. Daisy waited 117 hours in front of the cave while it was 122°F (50°C) outside. The thought of it makes me shiver!
A worldwide award-winning shot by Gilardini from Manitoba’s Wapusk National Park, “Photographing polar bears in freezing weather can be difficult. “The camera freezes, the batteries die, and even when it works, you can’t check the settings because crystals build up on it,” she claimed.
But I felt I had something exceptional when I snapped this photo. I love how comfortable the mother is and how gentle she is… “Everyone can relate. ” Photographing Canada’s Arctic bears is an honour for Gilardini.
This tremendous opportunity to offer a voice to species who cannot speak up and draw awareness to habitat loss and climate change through the power of a positive image is what matters most to me, “she said. “We need to touch people’s hearts and emotions to move them.”
She shot bears and penguins. Gilardini grew up with a vast collection of plush animals and teddy bears. “I grew up in Switzerland, where there were no bears, yet I never wondered why I adored them,” she remarked. “People constantly ask whether I’m terrified of bears since I see them, but they actually calm me.” She has never had an unpleasant experience with one.
Gilardini began photographing spirit bears in B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest five years ago. I am captivated by this complex ecology where everything is interconnected, and I am grateful to be among the few who have had the pleasure of viewing and photographing it, “she said. Her guide called this sleeping bear “mushroom,” she claimed, since it liked to get “high on mushrooms.”
We got so close, I could hear his breath. No matter, the bear would peer at us. ” It was recently rejected by Ottawa, but not when Gilardini took this photo.
“As environmental photographers, it is our obligation to capture the beauty of endangered creatures and promote awareness through our images.” Visit her website to view more of her animal photographs (www.daisygilardini.com). Daisy Gilardini, all pictures.
