Natural Habitat Adventures is introducing a seven-day opportunity to photograph polar bears in the remote Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska.
Kaktovik, an Inupiat village of 250 people located on Barter Island in the Beaufort Sea on the edge of the coastal plain, is Alaska's premier location to view polar bears.
Sightings have been increasing in the region over the past few years as bears spend more time on land due to waning sea ice.
Nat Hab has operated popular polar bear adventures in Churchill, Manitoba, since the 1980s, but this is the company's first polar-bear-focused trip in Alaska.
The expedition, which takes place at 70 degrees north latitude, is also Nat Hab's most northerly adventure.
Guests fly over the Arctic Circle before landing on Alaska's North Slope on the edge of the Beaufort Sea.
This immersion in the far north provides an unusual chance to witness the impacts of climate change while learning about changing polar bear behavior and how local people face challenges to their age-old subsistence lifestyle.
Guests travel with a Nat Hab Expedition Leader who is an Arctic naturalist and polar bear expert as well an accomplished wildlife photographer offering guidance for all ability levels. Boats are skippered by local resident guides who are intimately familiar with polar bears and their behavior, ensuring a thorough interpretive experience.
The itinerary, unique to Nat Hab and its conservation partner World Wildlife Fund, also includes a full day of exploration in Fairbanks, including a visit to the University of Alaska's Museum of the North and the university's Large Animal Research Station.