I recently had the opportunity to visit northern British Columbia to document some of my fellow Artist-Educators (Whitney French and John Akpata) to facilitate some workshops. During the down time I got to shoot a ton of photos of the amazing BC rainforest wilderness.The highlight was easily the sighting of a Kermode "Spirit" Bear along the Nisga'a Highway.
Rare and legendary, the Spirit Bear is also a local mascot in Terrace, BC which is the lovely community where we were staying. Its image is literally everywhere, including painted on a sheer rock face on the local mountain! Spotting the real deal, though...that's another story. Though black bears are common, Spirit Bears are extremely elusive. Even locals couldn't believe our dumb-luck (it really was, we were just driving and there it was) at laying eyes on one since lifelong residents rarely get the opportunity.
Check out the brief video above as I got to take the shot of a lifetime. I definitely feel inspired and thankful to have witnessed such a majestic and unique animal in the wild. I only hope the Spirit Bear's habitat in the Great Bear Rainforest will remain liveable for future generations. There are currently under 400 left in the world. You can see a few more of my BC pictures HERE.
I had a great time meeting folks in the community and I would like to give a special shout-out to Parkside Secondary School (go Panthers!) for opening their doors to us and letting us share what we do.
pictured: Whitney French, John Akpata, and myself with some of the student and staff at Parkside