NAVC Polar Bear Expedition: Day 5

Even with the time change, and the extra hour that we gained, it seems like there is just never enough time to do everything that you want. Churchill is above the 58th latitude. At 7am it is still very dark. Once again we started the day with a walk to the diner for breakfast. It was -15C but at least the wind had died down. Small drifts lined the streets, the diminutive spruce covered with snow. The road was slick ice.

(NAVC Explorers photographing wildlife outside the tundra buggy.)

The prison grey bus picked us up at 8 to take us to the Tundra Buggy. Light flakes sprinkled the landscape as we drove out to the tundra. We stopped at a local statue to get some group photos and made it out to the field shortly after 8:30.

This was our coldest morning. We got our photo gear ready, some hot coffee/chocolate and headed out for another day of wildlife.

It did not take long. About 30 - 40 minutes in we came across our first bear. A mighty, large male, paraded past, crossed the road, circled the tundra buggy, then, satisfied that we were not treat, sauntered off into the willows.

(Curious Bear taking a break on the ice.)

(Alert male watching the tundra buggy.)

 Just before lunch we came across a polar bear standoff. A young male was walking near a football-sized frozen pond when suddenly a larger, older male crested a small hill, called an esker, on the opposite side. The adult male strutted out onto the ice and stood with confidence in the path of the younger male. The latter bear stopped and began the staring competition. Bears will often play fight during the summer months. Rarely do they actually fight as they are weak, and injuries can be life-threatening. After some more grandstanding the younger male slunk off.

(A faceoff. The larger, adult male in the background was watching the wary younger, smaller animal in the near ground.)

We stopped for lunch near another large frozen pond. Bears wandered past at random. A second tundra buggy pulled up nearby for a similar picnic stop. A very large male bear walked past our buggy and eventually made its way to the other vehicle. We watching in amazement as the bear got up on its haunches and got its nose about 1 foot from the driver's open window! Several passengers leaned out the window to get photographs.

You should know that Polar Bears CAN jump!

The day was filled with great animal sightings, excellent natural light and crisp skies. As the day drew to an end, and the Arctic light faded, our driver made one last detour on the way back to the tundra buggy launch. We stopped at the cliffs near the bay. With the several days of recent sub-zero weather the shore-line is starting to freeze. A smaller male was curled up in a rock day-bed, biding his time until he can finally start his winter foray out onto the ice.

(A young, thin bear sleeps on the rocks overlooking the bay, waiting for the ice to form so it can resume hunting after months of fasting.)

(Polar Bears eat snow as a source for water.)

Do the fading light we finally had to bid farewell and head back. As we passed one final frozen pond a bear walked out, turned toward us as if saying “goodbye,” then headed off into the sunset.

(A lone polar bear walks off into the sunset as we leave the tundra and the end of another fantastic NAVC Expedition.)

Tomorrow morning we are scheduled to spend some time exploring the town, then head off to the airport and back to Winnipeg for our final lectures and farewell dinner.

We took a vote. We all decided to stay.
 

(Grease ice forms in the bay. Grease ice gets its name from the oily appearance that it gives to the sea surface. This is the first step in formation of the stable ice that will allow the bears to leave the shore.)

(A Willow Ptarmigan scratches through the snow and frost looking for a meal.)