Sea World polar bear Mishka takes her first swim in refurbished Polar Pre-School exhibit

THE Gold Coast’s youngest polar bear has been winning hearts and making everyone around her smile for five months. Now she’s come out of the den and gone straight into the water. SEE THE VIDEO

AFTER five months of growing and cute adventures, the Gold Coast’s youngest polar bear has made a splash.

Mishka has been allowed to explore a deep pool at Sea World’s Polar Pre-School exhibit where her predecessors have grown up and learned about the world around them.

SEA WORLD NAMES ADORABLE NEW POLAR BEAR

The five-month-old bear loves playing.

The grassed area at Polar Pre-School has been removed to make way for the large, deeper pool to allow Liya to teach Mishka how to swim, dive and explore life under the water.

NEW POLAR BEAR EMERGES FROM DEN

Polar Pre-School is a specially designed area at the world-class Polar Bear Shores exhibit which allows for Mishka to develop her life-skills and explore new environments under the watchful eye of doting mum, Liya.

Mishka tests out the new pool

Polar Bear Shores Supervisor, Tacha Mulligan said Mishka had mastered her swimming skills in the shallow-water pool and is ready to progress to the deeper pool.

“Mishka has been doing really well in the purpose-built shallow wading pool we designed and has displayed a confident swimming ability but it is time for her to hone new swimming skills in the large pool,” she said.

“She is continuing to grow significantly in size and is now weighing roughly 30 kilograms and starting to interact with solid foods including fish, beef and pork.”

Mishka plays in her new exhibit.