THESE incredible pictures show the curious nature of one of the world's most powerful predators.   The heart-warming images show the inquisitive white fur-balls as they investigate a camera held by one brave wildlife photographer, before they gamely jump into the water with him to swim right into his face.   The spectacular shots were taken from a boat by veteran nature photographer Steven Kazlowski, 43, from New York.   Steven, who has spent 14-years watching and learning about polar bears, explained how he came to be so near to these mighty beasts.   “These images show the playful curious social nature of the animals," said Steven. “I managed to do take my pictures by working with native guides, working from skiffs (small wooden boat).    “I had to wait for months at a time in a location where I knew there would eventually be animals present. I never got close to them, in fact it was the polar bears themselves that got close to me. "They got to within a couple of feet from me at times. The young bears were especially interested. "They were with me for a couple minutes, generally, as they quickly investigated what I was doing before moving on."   Steven’s pictures were taken along the arctic coast of Alaska, in the western Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.   But scientists believe the global polar bear population is vulnerable.   Their numbers are decreasing each year and currently stand at about 20,000 wild polar bears, who live in the Arctic Circle.   Polar bears may look cute and humans rarely die through contact with them. However, taking pictures like these is only for the experts.   "As far as these images are concerned, I never felt threatened when taking them. I always leave myself an out," said Steven.   "On another occasion in the past, I did have a polar bear touch my head via the outside of my tent.  "A bear had traveled by at one point and I had feeling that another bear may be behind it, as they follow one another at times.  "I went to sleep and sure enough, not long after I woke to a bear paw touching my head. I jumped up and yelled, then looked out the tent to see the adult bear running in the direction the other bear had went."  Steve hopes his images will make people think about the impact of global warming on the world.  "At the end of the day as a nature photographer, I also feel that I am a conservation photographer, and hope my images do cause people to think about the many things that inhabit the world we share with it, and that our own needs shouldn't be the first needs that take precedence," he said.  “One of the goals of my work is to do outreach and educate people about these amazing animals and places, as-well-as the changes that are occurring in our world today.” For more information on Steve's work, please visit:  HYPERLINK "http://www.lefteyepro.com/" www.lefteyepro.com