Photographer David Swindler captures polar bears chasing his boat in Alaska

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Photographer David Swindler captures polar bears chasing his boat in Alaska

Posted by travelling-blogger on Friday, October 31, 2014 Label:

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Recent studies have revealed a trend for travellers forgoing the old 'fly and flop' holiday, opting instead for more culturally enriching or adventurous experiences abroad.

This one certainly would qualify.

An independent US-based travel firm are offering photo tours to remote destinations where groups can get up close and personal with wildlife, including these majestic polar bears in Alaska.

Get up close and personal by swimming with Polar Bears

Inquisitive fellow: A polar bear cub's curiosity is piqued by a wildlife photographer's GoPro camera in Alaska

In the wild: The 35-year-old from Utah runs guided photo tours in the region to get up close and personal with the majestic bears

Breathtaking: Amateur photographers have the opportunity to witness them in their natural habitat

Action Photo Tours, owned and run by 35-year-old David Swindler, takes amateur photographers to the remote Alaskan village of Kaktovik, where an Eskimo guide will lead them for four days to find the majestic animals playing, relaxing and even fighting in their natural habitat.

Encounters can range from surly adults to small, playful cubs, and even getting up close and personal with them in the ocean.

This video, captured on a GoPro, shows two playful polar bears swimming behind the tour boat. The bears chase the boat, ducking in and out of the water and nosing the curious object as they swim in its wake.

Play-fight: Swindler captured the pair of cubs wrestling in the water from his boat

'What's that over there?' The polar bears noticed the boat with its GoPro and swam over for a closer look

Out for a swim: Photographer David Swindler captured the polar bears near the remote village of Kaktovik

Swindler, from Utah, reveals that he witnessed the pair of two-year-old cubs wrestling in the water for an hour, before they noticed the boat and gave chase.

'One upside to no snow is that the bears seemed to spend more time playing in the water, especially the cubs,' the photographer says.

'They were going at it for a solid hour. Finally, they got curious about our boat and started swimming over.

Double the fluffy: The beautiful bears looked like they'd faced-off with a hair dryer after emerging from the water to shake out their coats

'We started to back away, but they swam even faster. I was taking video with my GoPro camera and they would dive under the water to get a closer look at it. They even touched it with their nose.'

The tour also takes in the spectacular Northern Lights at night, and there are options to add on excursions to find a plethora of other wildlife including caribou, musk-oxen, dall sheep, wolves, foxes, and ptarmigan.

Expect to splash out for the once-in-a-lifetime experience... the five-day adventure will set you back £4,342 ($6,950).

All shapes and sizes: Swindler's photo tours enable amateur photographers to observe both cubs and adults

Natural habitat: Swindler witnessed a mother admonishing her cub for biting her while he was nursing

The next Alaskan tour is scheduled for September 2015, and Mr Swindler recalls that this year's excursion was more challenging due to lack of snow.

'This meant the bears were dirtier since they were rolling around in the dirt. It also made the photography a bit more difficult since the landscape wasn't as pretty,' he says.

'There also wasn't as many bears around since a whale had washed up on shore about 20 miles away and drew quite a few bears over that direction. However, there were still enough bear families on the Barrier Islands and we found plenty to photograph.'

Playing dirty: This year's lack of snow meant the polar bears' coats were not as pristine as they rolled about in the dirt

Adventure: The next tour will take place in September 2015

The former engineer, who gave up his career after a decade to embark on life as a wildlife photographer, has also witnessed heart-warming moments between mother and cub: 'A very hungry cub wanted to nurse from his mom,' Swindler reveals. 'He started to nurse, but it looks like he accidentally bit her. She got very angry and bit his neck.

'In retaliation, he lunged and tried to bite her again. She didn't take that well and bit him a couple more times squarely on the neck. He got the message and was whining and crying for several minutes afterwards. The poor little thing.'

Mr Swindler is already planning for next year's polar bears trip to Katovik, where he will lead a photographer group around Barrier Islands and capture the Northern Lights.

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