Ebony & Ivory

One autumn, we had the incredible opportunity of a lifetime to photograph the elusive Spirit Bears in the Great Bear Rainforest along British Columbia's rugged west coast.

What makes these rare white bears so extraordinary is that they are actually true black bears, not albinos as many people believe. Their pale coloring comes from a double recessed gene - meaning when two black bears carrying this gene mate, they produce a white Spirit Bear cub. 

Because mother bears often keep their cubs hidden to protect them from males, I felt exceptionally lucky to witness this particular mom, known by the locals as "Strawberry," bring her little black cub down to the stream. Strawberry earned her name for her habit of sleeping on the cedar forest floor, which stains her fur a reddish hue. Consequently, this year Strawberry did not mate with a male that had the recessive gene, so her little cub is black, in which the locals appropriately named "Blackberry."

Watching these two together, side by side in the rainforest's soft light, was an unforgettable and deeply moving experience I'll cherish forever.

- Stan Masters

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