Long kept secret, Canada's ghostly spirit bears are even rarer than thought

Adept at catching salmon because they blend into the daylight, the white bears are small in number - yet First Nations are stepping in to help

When Marven Robinson was a kid, any mention of spirit bears was met with hushed dismissal from the elders in his community, the Gitga'at First Nation of Hartley Bay, British Columbia. Since the 19th century, Indigenous peoples in the area learned to keep the bears with ghostly coats a secret to protect them from fur traders.

As the ancient legend goes, the Wee'get (meaning the raven," known as the creator of the world) turned every 10th black bear white to remind people of the pristine conditions of the Ice Age.