This image from 8 May 2022 saddens me because since then the cub's mother ("Frost" or "Misha") has drowned during an inept tranquillization attempt and this cub has been shot because it was deemed too young to survive on its own. The mother was notorious for getting close to the town of Longyearbyen (capital of the Svalbard archipelago) and no doubt the cub was learning to emulate its mother. This image was taken from a zodiac across the bay from Longyearbyen (Svalbard archipelago) as the mother-cub pair were on the run on the ice shelf from a giant male bear. The pair eventually outpaced the male and we spent over three hours with them. The cub was conflicted between following its mother and taking a closer look at us in the zodiac. It repeatedly attempted to stand up to see further (as bears are wont to do) but each of these clumsy attempts lasted less than a second and resulted in what looked like dance moves. Polar bears usually have twins which are each other's playmates but in this case, the mother seemed to be fed up with the friskiness of her single cub and was urging it along whenever it stopped near the edge of the ice shelf to watch us. The cub was most likely born around Christmas of the previous year, making it about five months old. And it seemed a fast and eager learner since it was aleady imitating the mother's moves to break though the roof of an ice cave to catch a seal. Those attempts were also quite funny and and moving in their futility. I am very sorry its life was cut short so early.