Possessive & Protective

I know this anecdote will exude anthropomorphism, but so what. Many biologists question the existence of emotions in animals, but this possessive and protective female Kermode Black Bear seemed almost forlorn when I shot this image. And with good reason - sadly she had lost her second cub (also white) a day or two before this image was shot. Here she seems determined not to lose this one!

These black bears are of the Kermode subspecies. The recessive gene producing white coats occurs in comparatively high proportions in this subspecies. This female had to be a carrier of the gene, and mated with a bear that was a carrier OR a white "Spirit" bear. The white-coated bears are extremely rare...it is estimated that there are only 200 in existence (most of them along the northern coast of BC).

Subject: Black Bear (Ursus americanus kermodei)
Location: Gribbell Island, BC, Canada
Camera: Nikon D2Xs
Lens: Nikon 200 mm f2 VR (VR in "Active" mode)
Exposure: 1/90s at f2. ISO 500. -1.0 stop compensation from matrix metered exposure.
Other: AquaTech Sportshield (rain cover) for camera and lens

More luck than good management helped produce this shot. We were bobbing in choppy seas in a small Zodiac with light horizontal rain (REAL windy) when I shot this. We had NO light. It was real tough to keep the bears in the viewfinder, let alone hold the lens steady. This is about the only non-blurry image of the batch.

All the contextual information surrounding this shot (field notes, all camera settings and processing details, conservation, etc.) can be found at:

http://www.naturalart.ca/galleries/mammals/bears/detail_44.html.

Thanks in advance for any feedback on this image.

Cheers...

Brad