Adorable photos of mother and cubs in honor of Polar Bear Day

By Dean Murray via SWNS

A wildlife photographer has shared adorable pictures of a polar bear family to mark International Polar Bear Day on Feb. 27.

British guide Paul Goldstein observed the mother and cubs on his last expedition to Canada's Baffin Island.

However, finding the bears in the stark Arctic snow proved a challenge, with hours of searching before striking white gold.

Paul says: "How the local Inuits find these bears is beyond me. When you travel a very long way North to Baffin Island, to an area just limping out of winter you need an exciting goal. Polar bear cubs recently out of their dens is such a quarry,

"But if it hadn't been for the teak-tough Inuit guides, Jay and Jimmy, that morning, we'd have seen nothing but snow, as finding a distant ivory blob (or two) on a white icy canvas is a huge task.

"Camping on a frozen fjord in -25 temperatures is demanding but also exciting, but spending the days out on the ice searching and the nights under the Aurora makes this a very special place.

"I have photographed polar bears for over 20 years in the Arctic but this area is really very special. This sequence was only over a remarkable 36 hours and these were the smallest bears I've ever witnessed, I think they may have left their hibernation den that morning.

"There had been quite a blizzard so on a few occasions the cubs jumped up to mum as she waded through the snow, her babies like carry-on luggage.

"To spend a day waiting for them to wake in the cold has its challenges, but later on my frozen finger was fused to the shutter release as she moved off in front of a towering grounded iceberg."

International Polar Bear Day is an annual event timed to coincide with the time when polar bear mothers and cubs are sleeping in their dens, and to raise awareness about the conservation status of the polar bear.