Kirsten McWhirter, Beary Curious (September theme: What Matters to Me )

It's not at the end of the world, but you can see it from Kaktovik. The remote Inupiat town of Kaktovik, Alaska, shares their summer with polar bears waiting for the sea ice to return. This year, the sea ice was the furthest away from Kaktovik it has ever been. This bear had been resting but woke up as a reward for our patience. The power of photographs to share nature's beauty and raise awareness of our impacts is what matters to me.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.