Polar bear beams with delight as she emerges

This playful polar bear looks like an Olympic diver as she elegantly crouches down before jumping into the freezing water.

The giant bear isn't phased by the freezing temperatures as she proceeded to toss a walrus flipper in and out of the water - and even diving in after it.

The young female spotted a hunter throw in the flipper and eventually found it before playing with it for hours.



The playful polar bear looks like an Olympic diver as she elegantly plunges into the freezing Arctic water



Come on in! The 350 pound bear emerges from the water with a smile on her face

The five-year-old bear appears to dive much like a professional athlete into the gap in the ice to capture the flipper before effortlessly climbing out.


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The 350 pounds polar bear repeats this process several times, enjoying the refreshing dip in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, US.

Photographer Steven Kazlowski travelled from his home in Kingston, Washington, to capture the spectacular moment.

The 43-year-old said: 'She would stand on the ice for a minute and sometimes just for a couple of seconds before diving into the water.

'She was huge, around 7 feet tall, and the water was around freezing. She was in and out very quickly and would play with the flipper in the water, too.



Flippin' good fun: The young female spotted a hunter throw a walrus flipper into the water and eventually found it before playing with it for hours



The powerful bear proved she is at home in the water as on dry land



Front crawl: The bear gets on her paws and knees as she frolics on the ice

'She dived into the water because polar bears love to jump and play.

'It never struggled and it didn't take long to pull itself out. It would put its front paws on the ice and pull up as quick as it wanted to - just like a pull up.'

The snapper was delighted with the pictures and was shocked how comfortable the bear was both in and out of the freezing water.



Where did it go? The bear dunks her head into the Arctic water as she hunts for the flipper



The polar bear shakes herself dry after retrieving the flipper

He added: 'I thought it was amazing that an animal can get so big in the Alaskan arctic, and be just as at home on top of the ice as it is in the water.

'What I like about the pictures is the lighting and the action taking place. It's fascinating that the animal was so comfortable both in water as well as on ice.

'The whole experience was pretty rare. I was very lucky to see a polar bear playing with a walrus flipper in and out of the water, in the sunshine.

'It eventually walked away with the flipper into the sunset - it was unbelievable.'