Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

Located within Alaska’s Inside Passage, Glacier Bay National Park is part of a 25-million-acre World Heritage Site—one of the world’s most expansive sprawls of protected wilderness. It serves as a national park, a living laboratory and research center, a biosphere reserve, and a globally essential marine and terrestrial sanctuary.

The Park is treated as a sanctuary for one species of particular note: the rare blue bear, also known as the glacier bear. Little is known about these sought-after creatures. A subspecies of black bears, they remain one of the world’s mysteries.

Should you visit the vast national park and happen to spot a blue bear—or any bear—do not approach it, do not let it approach you, and definitely do not choose that moment to phone a friend.