FEARLESS Joe Bunni captures incredible close ups of wild polar bears - swimming just inches from them in icy Arctic waters.   While few would go within 50 feet of the animals - let alone nose-to nose in the freezing ocean - French dentist and conservationist Joe did despite promising his wife he wouldn't. Wearing only a dry-suit, snorkel and mask, Joe submerged himself into the two degree (celsius) waters of The Nanavut in Canada and came within 50 cm on two different occasions of 700 pound deadly polar bears. Both times the bears came so close to Joe, 57, that they touched his waterproof camera housing with their noses.  During his last encounter Joe barely managed to escape with his life when the bear became aggressive. "I almost died a gruesome death," explained Parisian Joe. "I broke all my own rules for safety and had become overconfident in my relations with these wonderful animals after having had such an amazing experience the year before. "The encounter did not go as expected and the bear became agitated, started to growl and filled me with fear. "I did not respect nature and the bear took a swipe at me and his powerful paw nearly tore down the boat we were in, scratching the metal. "My skipper barely had time to pull me out of the water and I came within an arms length of being mauled at sea by nature's largest land predator. "It was an experience that provided incredible photography, but was a foolish thing for me to do. The first encounter had seemed much safer. "I was very lucky and my wife went mad when she saw the photographs, especially after promising her not to do it again." Working to produce his conservation book "+-5 Metres" edited by in association with SOS OCEANS ( HYPERLINK "http://www.sosoceans.com/" www.sosoceans.com), Joe's encounters with polar bears began in July 2009 when he wanted a split level shot of a polar bear swimming - above and below the water - for the front page. "I know a friendly boat skipper in the area he took me out in his seven meter long steel boat into the iceberg fields ," said Joe who entertains his patients in Paris with tales of his adventures. "For three days we had found no bears and then on the fourth, a clear and still watered day everything happened. "The first bear we saw was nervous and unsuitable, but into the afternoon we encountered a three or four-year-old female bear. "We slowed to a crawl and spent a time shadowing her in the water so as to assure her that we were not there with malicious intent. "When I stated shooting at a speed of seven images per second, I realised that I was frightening her and then slowed down and took a picture every couple of seconds or so. "When the bear seemed as relaxed as possible and had conformed to my rules about patience and subtlety, I got into the water attached to 20 foot long rope. "The skipper always kept me and the bear to starboard so that he could keep an eye on both of us and swing the boat round in case of an emergency . "I submerged myself under the water so that only the camera casing was visible and my snorkel. "I photographed some amazing material split level, but then a wondrous thing happened when the bear approached me. "The bear was too concerned with the boat, but when she saw the casing she must have seen her own reflection and thought it was another bear, "You can see the sequence in the photographs as she approaches, touches the casing and then recoils when she realises it isn't a bear. "She then swam off to rest on an iceberg." Exhilarated, Joe felt that he had just experienced something that very few men can live to tell the tale after about. "There was no fear just elation," said Joe. "Of course my heart was pounding but there was a serenity to the event. "I spent 20 minutes in the water with that bear and felt safe because I had satisfied my own safety rules of a slow approach and I reasoned that being so far from the shore, why would a polar bear want to attack me and then drag me back to dry land? "A polar bear is a predator and predators try not to waste their energy." In answer to anyone who questions his sanity, Joe explains that his work is to preserve these wonderful animals and he compares his photography to that of a war photographer. "If people question why I do this, then ask why do war photographers put themselves in dangerous positions?" said Joe. "There is no protection from a camera in a war zone, nor is there one in the Arctic. "For me the polar bear is the symbol of the 21st Century. A century during which we will witness the disappearance of the ice continents. "This is the struggle we face to preserve what we already have and my work is to draw attention to that. "I am passionate and need recognition of the beauty of nature. "That is why I do this." Please visit Joe's website at  HYPERLINK "http://www.joebunni.com/" www.joebunni.com and that of his association  HYPERLINK "http://www.sosoceans.com/" www.sosoceans.com. Please view Joe's book online  HYPERLINK "http://5meters.sosoceans.com/index_EN.html" http://5meters.sosoceans.com/index_EN.html