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Capt. Casey Cooper

@cooperlost

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Wildlife Photographer & Trip Leader
📍 Alaska
✘ Captain ✘ Pilot ✘ Bear guide ✘
↟ Conservation over everything ↟
† Jesus is king †

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Mother brown bear with her 3 cubs stands up in flower bed to investigate a boar (male brown bear) approaching…

While on a camping trip in the backcountry of Alaska we were photographing this family frequently. One thing I noticed was every time another bear would approach when she was in the flowers/tall grass, she would stand up to get a better look of the approaching animal. This mother lost her cubs 2 years prior to wolves and rival male bears so she’s on HIGH alert this year.

They were relaxed and she was breast feeding the 3 youngsters when I noticed the other bear approaching. We repositioned a different angle without disturbing them so that she would stand up facing me and my friends for this shot. It was a PERFECT moment.

#1 priority when I’m photographing animals is to avoid disturbing them. We always do our best to keep a safe distance and witness these incredibly intimate moments as a fly on the wall.

Shot on Sony a1ii with gmaster 400 2.8
@sonyalpha taken in Alaska by @cooperlost

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3 months ago

Brown bear with cubs posed perfectly for the family portrait 📸

All bear species are known to be extremely protective over their cubs. Ferocious mothers taking on males twice their size to protect their lineage. Along Alaskas coasts some of these females have learned being around humans means there’s less of a chance for a boar to approach and kill her cubs. You can read it in their body language that she’s comfortable in this moment. Frequently we have to get up and move away to avoid them getting too close but it’s a pretty special feeling to have an apex predator think of us as a safe haven for her cubs.

At the end of the day these are wild unpredictable animals and anything could happen. That’s why it’s so important to only go into these places with highly experienced guides. Do your research if you hope to one day come see this place for yourself.

Shot on @sonyalpha a1ii with the 400 prime 2.8 taken in Alaska by @cooperlost

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4 months ago

This mother bear lost all 4 of her cubs 2 years ago. This year she’s more cautious, spending more time away from the tall grass where wolves and boars are a constant threat. She’s taking advantage of low tides for clamming, napping and nursing. During low tide she can see in all directions. Not as much opportunity for threats to sneak up on her.

When you get to watch these animals for extended periods of time, you start to see the struggles of their daily life. Especially a mother with 3 little cubs. You really start to feel empathy for her daily struggles and appreciate how hard she works for her offspring to make it to adulthood. She always sleeps with one eye open. It’s truly an incredible thing to witness.

In this series of photos, she was clamming for a couple hours and then nursed the cubs, shortly after they all fell into a deep sleep. As they were sleeping, the tide came up. Water surrounded them and the cubs were clearly scared, with little swimming experience they wouldn’t have made it back to shore without their mother. The Sow Huffed a few times and the cubs knew to climb on her back where she waded through the water bringing them back to the shore. It was a beautiful moment that I will never forget.

The first image is easily one of my favorite shots I’ve taken of a brown bear.🐻 taken in Brown Bear by @cooperlost

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a year ago

Shots I’ve taken in the past 4 months. All photos were taken in Alaska and Svalbard THIS summer. It’s been one of the most insane wildlife summers I’ve ever had. Incredible encounters and beautiful locations.

Every shot I took I was wearing my @nortiv8 kicks which at this point I rarely even take off.

Use code COOPER10 to get 10% off - link in bio

#N8LeaveThemOn #Nortiv8 #Photography taken in North Pole by @cooperlost

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5 days ago

10 of my favorite photos from Svalbard 🐻‍❄️

A mother polar bear poses with her cubs on the pack ice in search of the next meal. In my personal opinion polar bear mothers have the hardest jobs in the animal kingdom🐻‍❄️

Walrus approaches me with curiosity and poses with perfect symmetry.

Puffin lands on a rock holding fish for its chicks, where she landed was perfectly coated in bright orange lichen.

Polar bear cubs watch our boat from a nearby iceberg.

Polar bear cubs watch our boat from a nearby iceberg.

A young Arctic fox coat changed early to white, after running in every direction for an hour eventually he posed for a minute with black rock all around him.

While dangling off the side of a zodiac with my 400 mm prime I eventually captured this walrus popping its head out to investigate us.

Puffin flying directly towards me with lichen coating the ground under him and a dark rock behind him.

Puffin flying directly towards me with lichen coating the ground under him and a dark rock behind him.

My personal favorite of the trip. This polar bear family was spectacular and incredibly curious

Male reindeer shedding velvet getting ready for the rut. 🦌

Arctic fox running directly at me while I frantically held down my shutter button. This was the only frame I captured in focus 🦊 taken in Svalbard by @cooperlost

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11 days ago

Mother Polar Bear with her 2 cubs approaches our ship in the Arctic circle 🐻‍❄️

We spent days and days scanning the pack ice in the Arctic hoping to find a polar bear. As the trip was coming to a close and we were approaching our last few hours of opportunity in the pack ice, I started to accept we probably wouldn’t see one.

I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed and went to my bunk to put my camera away. Within 2 minutes of being in my room I could feel our ship slowing down, I looked out of my window onto the pack ice and there they were. 3 polar bears peaking over a chunk of an iceberg. The moment didn’t feel real. I grabbed every piece of photography equipment I had and got out to shoot as fast as I could.

They stayed with us for a couple hours and even touched the side of the boat at one point. Eventually they lost interest and faded into the vast white horizon ❄️ by @cooperlost

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23 days ago

Walrus poses perfectly while investigating me…

I came here for the polar bears but the walrus stole the show. Some of my favorite shots I’ve taken in my life. Their curiosity of us was incredible. I love these big blubbery creatures. taken in Arctic Circle by @cooperlost

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a month ago

Brown bear catching a salmon in super slow motion🐻🐟💦

📍Brooks falls, Alaska

Can’t beat this location for witnessing bears catch salmon over a waterfall. If it’s not on your bucket list already, put it on there. taken in Brooks Falls, Katmai Natinal Park by @cooperlost

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2 months ago

Lone wolf reconnects with his pack in remote Alaska 🐺

Watching this pack come together to support their injured brother was one of the most touching things I had ever seen.

I woke to the sound of wolves howling nearby my tent. I threw on my gear as fast as I possibly could to see what was going on. I walked over to the beach and saw the lone wolf I had seen many times, but this time he was injured. My heart was breaking for this animal, without a pack he would have no chance at surviving with that injury.

As his howling continued I eventually heard a howl off in the distance, another wolf was coming… they moved closer to each other and the howling continued to get louder. Then more wolves started running down the beach to the injured youngster. I was hoping and praying that they were part of the same pack… but as they got closer I could see it in their body language and tails wagging they were a pack/ a FAMILY.

Wolves have been demonized since the beginning of man. It’s always baffling to me because their descendants are also mans best friend. They have deep levels of emotion for each other, Yet we slaughter them for being apex predators.

I teared up witnessing this moment. For so long I thought this wolf was all by himself, I thought about him frequently. When I saw that he wasn’t alone out there and that he had a family I was elated.

I hope stories like this reach as many people as possible, I want people to see the other side of these predator animals and hopefully develop a soft spot for them like I have. taken in Alaska by @cooperlost

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2 months ago

Brown bear cub uses its mother as a scratch-post 🐻

Each cub I’ve watched in the wild has its own distinctive personality and quirks. This one stood up scratching its back on its mom constantly while she feeds on sedge grass. It was the cutest thing. The other one kept to itself a lot more. Everytime I saw this family in the wild this little guy would repeat the same behavior 😂 taken in Alaska by @cooperlost

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2 months ago

Wild white wolf with a blind Green eye in remote Alaska 🐺

My hair stood up when this animal walked by me while I was photographing brown bears. Not with fear but in complete awe. I have seen some incredible animals but this one stood out to me. Especially when it howled to the rest of the pack.

It stopped and stared at me for a couple minutes, giving me time to see that vibrant green eye, and then dropped her head back and howled. It was a surreal moment I will never forget. taken in Alaska by @cooperlost

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2 months ago

Wild wolf in flowers in remote Alaska 🐺

Wolf’s are extremely elusive and hard to see even if you’re in a densely populated wolf territory, you may never see them. For whatever reason this one was curious. We kept our distance, stared at him while he stared back. The whole interaction went on for about 15 minutes and then he trotted off.

I couldn’t have dreamt of a better scene to unfold. We had just been dropped off for a bear view, still organizing and sorting our gear… when one of my buddies said “THERES A WOLF WATCHING US.”

Our cameras were still packed away so we calmly and quickly got them out, meanwhile the wolf walked into the lupine flowers just in time for us to start snapping photos. There’s a massive amount of luck and being in the right place at the right time when it comes to wildlife photography. taken in Alaska by @cooperlost

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2 months ago