Photographer: Donna Feledichuk

This second-year coastal brown bear cub always was at its mother side during a trip to Lake Clark, Alaska. According to the locals, two of its siblings had been killed by a male early in the spring. The mother was understandably overly cautious and kept a close eye on her last remaining cub. Frequently female bears with cubs will get uncomfortably close to people to avoid males. As the mother started off to hunt for salmon, she left the cub close to my location, almost like I was anointed its babysitter, and then she walked about 100ft away to the mouth of the nearby stream. The cub lay patiently in the rain and waited for its breakfast. I love this photo because it reminds me of my own children. Like most kids they quickly become bored when the parents are hard at work, this cub looks like it hates being there, hates the rain, and just wants mom to hurry up and finish. Although it is a bear it had such great expressions almost human-like at times that allowed me to feel a connection to this cub.