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Photographer Spent 33 Days with Arctic's Polar Bears. His 10 Photos Give a Peak into Their Unique Life

From snoozing in a field of flowers to playfighting sisters, Arctic's polar bears displayed a mosaic of unforgettable episodes.
PUBLISHED 3 HOURS AGO
(L) Tender Teeth, (R) Purple Ice - Striking photographs Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Cover Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
(L) Tender Teeth, (R) Purple Ice - Striking photographs Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Cover Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

Torrents of rain, deluges of salty waters, howling winds assaulting the camera gear, and four elusive polar bears constantly staring at him—all these obstacles could have easily made Martin Gregus believe that he should make a retreat. But thanks to his photographer father, who brought him up in a life surrounded by art, National Geographic magazines, and David Attenborough’s wildlife documentaries, that wasn't the case. His dream was too big to give him. So when the opportunity presented itself, he couldn’t say no, even though it was the time when the whole world was grappling with the pandemic.

Today, Gregus divides his time between his favorite wildlife photography, TEDx talks, and being a high-stakes drone pilot for Disney and Netflix. In 2015, when he was still a juvenile in the craft, his father once visited the Arctic to capture some shots of beluga whales. When Gregus spotted some whales playing with a polar bear, he became obsessed. Between 2020 and 2021, he ventured out of home and spent as many as 33 days with these lazy, hulking bears at Hudson Bay, Canada. Some days were spent perfecting the angle of the lens, while some were spent babysitting the cubs whose mothers had gone out to catch fish for dinner.

During his time with the bears, he recorded a series of shots that have been circulating across a morass of media outlets and photography award websites. Here are ten of them, depicting massive, stylish ice-colored animals, showcasing episodes of raw power, as fierce as they are intimidating to the naked eye, each playing their own character.

1. Among The Flowers

Among The Flowers, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
Among The Flowers, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

A curious bear cub gazes at the deep blue sky, lounging lazily in a bush of purple fireweed. Every once in a while, Gregus shared with The Atlantic, the cub would take a break from the fun time, stand on its hind legs, and poke its head up above the flowers to look for its mother. Whether or not the cub made it to its mother, nobody knows, but its photograph surely made it to the top winning images of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.

2. Snoozing in Flower Bed

Among The Flowers, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
Snoozing In Flower Bed, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

Scar, the bulky, white-furred male polar bear, rests in a bed of purple fireweed. On one side of the bed is a cluster of grey rocks. With its eyes closed in tranquil calm and mouth curved in a crescent, baby-like smile, the plump animal is a metaphor of pure white bliss engulfed in a chaos of color. When the sun dips below the horizon, the fireweed turns pink and the bear golden.

3. Cool time

Cool Time, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
Cool Time, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

Veronica and Betty, two bear sisters, appeared mesmerized as they engaged in playfighting with each other to cool off mid-summer heat in seawater and get away from pestering bugs. After wrestling over a boulder for nearly an hour, the two settled down. While they relaxed, Gregus grabbed his camera and snapped a shot of them forming a heart shape with their profiles as they sat face to face, their paws resting on the boulder.

4. The Long Shadow

The Long Shadow, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
The Long Shadow, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

Transitions in life might be smooth, but there is always a long shadow following from behind. This is probably what this top-down aerial composition expresses as a bear bounds across a snowy patch, appearing like a piece of fluffy golden oven-baked goodie under the sun. The snow beneath its paws is smooth, textured with a powder blue color. Here and there, where the dust hasn’t succeeded in covering the snow, the mound appears glowing pearly white in daylight. Bits and fragments of broken rock are splattered all around. As it stamps its foot on the snowy stretch, a giant shadow hovers above it. A four-legged monster or a ghost from the past—only the bear itself knows.

5. Purple Ice

Purple Ice, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
Purple Ice, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

When the sun retires in the North, the Arctic dresses up in the veil of twilight; a mother and her cub relish a moment of meditation while clambering along an ice floe. Above their heads is an explosion of electric pinks, fiery oranges, mango yellows, and soothing purples. Bathing in the dwindling light, the slushes of melting snow turn themselves into a blanket of lavender, atop which the mom and the cub engage in some quality time, displaying both resilience and compassion while the world beneath their feet slowly disintegrates.

6. King on the Rock

King On The Rock, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
King On The Rock, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

On a remote coastline on the Canadian bay, a tawny-hued grizzly scrambles through the rugged rocks and perches itself on top of the biggest one. As it gazes down upon the scrabble of smaller rocks, Gregus captures the expression, "The Lion King Reimagined." Up above, the sky seems to be swirling with popcorn-like clouds, their fuzzy outlines trimmed in the golden glisten of the Sun.

7. Ready For The Weekend

Ready For The Weekend, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
Ready For The Weekend, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

Under the grand swath of sky, part blue, part golden, the chubby polar bear seems to be settling into a relaxed mode. The photograph captures the bear dozing off calmly on a giant brown hunk of rock. Smaller fragments of broken rock are littering around, getting washed up by the icy tongues of the adjoining sea.

8. Tender Teeth: Training in Arctic Play

Tender Teeth: A Training in Arctic Play, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
Tender Teeth: A Training in Arctic Play, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

Human parents might be adept at teaching their children to work harder, but they often fail to teach them how to play hard. One polar bear mom, however, won’t let that happen to her kiddo. In the heart of a crystal blue sea, she trains her cub on what it means to play and have fun. While the cub remains attentive, keenly looking at her while half submerged in water, the playful mom opens her mouth wide, appearing as if she’s about to take her cub’s head inside. The color of her exposed teeth matches with that of their bodies, whose reflections are painting creamy swashes in the blue waters.

9. Mother At Ease

Mother At Ease, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
Mother At Ease, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

Until this moment, Gregus couldn’t fathom just how truly beautiful it is to watch a mom polar bear feed her cubs. On a background stretch of blue water and a shoreline made rickety with clusters of rocks, a mom named Wilma appears, feeding her cubs Bamm Bamm and Pebbles inside a field of green grass and red flowers, also featured by Canadian Geographic. Around September 2025, the newborn cubs weighed just one pound. For the next few months, they needed to quickly stock up on calories, which they would get from a diet rich in milk. With Wilma’s eyes dripping with a protective mom attitude and little ones suckling, this snapshot could be an unforgettable addition to their childhood photo album.

10. The Grey Area

The Grey Area, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)
The Grey Area, a striking photograph of a polar bear Martin Gregus captured while spending 33 days with polar bears in the Canadian Arctic (Image Source: Instagram | @mywildlive)

In contrast to the previous photograph, this one captures a cub’s evolution as it graduates from dependency on its mother to independence. The photo shows a giant polar mom strolling with her cub in a field of purple-pink flowers. With its head slightly raised, the cub appears curious. Maybe because it's the time when it is about to separate from its mother, and it doesn’t even know whether it will meet her again in its lifetime. This, Gregus says, is what he calls the “grey area.”

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