In the sparse and frozen wilds of Alaska, it is not often that a tasty meal jumps almost straight into your mouth.

But that was the case for one bear while hunting salmon in the Brooks River, which runs through the Katmai National Park, in southern Alaska.

However, the dozy creature was unable to take advantage of his good fortune, letting the juicy fish slip away, even after it hit him on the nose.

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Fish supper: A bear hunting salmon in Alaska eyes up his dinner as a fish leaps straight at him while swimming up stream in order to reach its breeding grounds

Staring at defeat: This salmon's number appears to be up as it comes face to face with a hungry bear along the Brooks River in the Katmai National Park, Alaska

As close as it gets: As the two creatures come face to face, it looks as if the bear is about to enjoy the most hassle-free meal of its life

Sockeye salmon, which are native to Alaska, migrate up rivers during the spring in order to reach the breeding grounds where they were born in order to spawn.

The fish, which spend the rest of the year out in the ocean, will swim against the current in order to reach the spawning grounds, leaping through waterfalls, which is where the bears wait.

While the salmon are very fast and difficult to catch underwater, after they leap into the air they have no way of changing course, and so a relatively easy to pick out of the air.

Husband and wife photography team Juergen and Christine Sohns captured the moment the bear let his prey get away.

The salmon will not eat during their battle upstream, and will undergo a huge transformation, changing from grey to bright red, with their lower lip extending and their head turning green.

Swing and a miss: However, nothing is a simple as it seems, and at the very last moment the bear makes a crucial error of judgement, and the Sockeye salmon is allowed to continue its journey

Second time unlucky: Photographer Juergen Sohns explained that once the fish are in the air they cannot change direction, which should make them easy to catch, but not for this bear, as another fish slips away

Once they reach the breeding grounds, usually a freshwater lake, they will mate, before perishing shortly afterwards.

These images were captured by Juergen and Christine Sohns, who travelled to Alaska to photograph the salmon migration.

Mr Sohns, 56, took the photo and said: 'The bear was just waiting at the best position in the falls to catch the fish when it was leaping.'

He said that, while the bear was unlucky on this occasion, he did have more success after moving further up the river.

Mr Sohns and his wife, from Germany, are veteran wildlife photographers, and over the last 20 years have travelled to every continent on Earth photographing wildlife.