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Published: March 1st 2020
At last the day had come to fulfill my dream of seeing the polar bears in
Churchill, Manitoba! Visiting Churchill as a tourist can be done anytime, but the polar bears are there only in the early winter and early spring.
Our charter to Churchill, Manitoba left at 6:30, a little late. The shuttle from the Holiday Express was kept busy with myself and others who hadn't wanted to drive in the very early morning. The Canadian North 737 was full of excited anticipation.
As we ate breakfast, a naturalist talked about the polar bears and their plight caused by climate change. Seeing the bears is never guaranteed. In November they are waiting for the ice on Hudson's Bay form and thicken enough to let them walk out and catch seals, their principle food. In March they come off the ice as it thins and won't hold them anymore. As the Arctic climate warms, the period when they are on the ice shortens and reduces their feeding, sometimes fatally. Plus, mother bears are having fewer twins and triplets, as their own robustness declines. With a 50%!m(MISSING)ortality rate for cubs, the whole population is shrinking.
The Hudson Bay
Mama and cubs
Scientific collar on mamapolar bears at Churchill are the most studied in the world, because they are more easily accessible than elsewhere. Bears and humans congregate for the same reason - the mouth of the Churchill River. While humans come because of navigation and access to the necessities of settlement, bears benefit differently. Water from the wide Churchill River slightly desalinates the sea water in this particular location, resulting in ice forming slightly earlier than elsewhere. Since the bears virtually starve over the summer on land, they are eager to take advantage of the earliest possible moment to move onto the ice. Seals make breathing holes in the ice, and that is their locus of weakness, where the bears can attack them.
After landing, we piled into school buses for the drive away from town to the “launch”. “Tundra Buggies” were developed and constructed in Churchill. The launch is like a pier on land. Perched on tires that probably came to my shoulder, the exterior looks like an extended RV and the interior like a spacious school bus. At the back is a balcony that serves as both the entrance from the “pier” and as the viewing platform. Just inside the door
is a toilet cabinette and a large cupboard that holds supplies. The driver/guides sits at the front.
I was happy to get a window seat, although there actually was plenty of time and space for taking pictures. The windows open from the top to allow for glass-free photography. Eventually, at each stop, everyone moved to the view platform for photos and just to hang out in this special environment. No one was to stand while the bus was moving – a crucial injunction, because the old military roads twisted and bucked the Buggy as it slowly rolled over potholes, some the width of the road. The guide did enumerate the automotive features of the vehicle, but they were almost meaningless to me.
The landscape was furnished with red-barked bushes and scrubby plants poking through the relatively light snow cover. The temperature was just around zero, sadly for the bears. The few Black Spruce trees were stunted, bent and shaped by winds that almost always come from the northeast. Rocks protruded everywhere, which in their absence enabled me to recognize the Bay, a band of grey on the clouded grey horizon.
We were alerted to a bear sighting
by other Buggies out on tour. Our guide manoeuvred to a place for clear, face-on viewing. Excitedly, I peered through the window until we were released to move onto the platform. (Under no circumstances is anyone allowed to descend from the vehicle.)
A mama and her two cubs ambled along the water’s edge. All polar bears amble at this time of year, conserving their dwindling energy. Slowly she led her cubs around the inlet and up onto the land directly in front of us! Sinking onto some snowy rocks, she let her cubs nurse. What a privilege to witness such a completely natural activity! I felt awed!
After what she must have considered a suitable amount of time, she rose up and started walking towards the water again. The cubs wanted more! With a minimum amount of pestering, she sank down again for them to nurse. Marvelously, they were camouflaged by their ivory-white fur and round shapes, uncannily resembling snow-covered boulders.
Meanwhile, in the distance, a male bear ambled along the shore of the inlet, sniffing the air and the ground in a confident, measured manner. At a mesmerizing slow pace he drew nearer and nearer to
the mama and cubs. Male bears are predators of cubs. Suddenly, mama scented the male. She immediately spun around and started running in the opposite direction. Instinctively, the cubs ran after her, well able to keep up. Before reaching the next shore, they galloped into the scrubby bushes, disappearing from sight.
">Watch the video of their run.
The male continued his amble. Reaching her first and then second nursing places, he sniffed for extended periods of time, seemingly studying the possibilities. At one point he discovered their trail away and followed it at a leisurely pace. Their diversion into the bush didn’t interest him. He kept on ambling until he reached the shore of the Bay, where he sat on his haunches sniffing and looking out to sea. I imagined his mind asking “I’m hungry! Where is that darned ice!”
Isabel Gibson
non-member comment
Ralph used to say that polar bears are the only animal known to go out of its way to track, kill, and eat humans. Maybe that's why they don't let anyone off the buggy. Great shots of the three, especially, and excellent video.