NAVC Polar Bear Expedition: Day 6

They say that you lose all sense of time when you are in the far north. I have to agree. If I were not sitting in the small Churchill airport heading back to Winnipeg, I would have no idea what day it is.

These past five days have flown by. When we started out, every day, every event, had been scripted in the big picture, but in reality, the schedule has been adjusted and modified so many times that it would have worn out a white board.

This morning, after a walk to breakfast, the group visited two Metis Indians and a local Canadian fur trapper. The Metis have been trapping the same “line,” or land, for several generations. The older woman was born in a tent north of Churchill. She has been trapping and selling furs since she was old enough to walk.

(Metis Indian fur trappers tell tales of their trade.)

I was a bit concerned how a group of veterinarians would handle being lectured to by fur trappers. For me personally, I was not initially receptive to the whole idea. However, we all have made our own personal choices. After listening to their stories about their livelihood, I did come away with a bit of a different opinion. I respect their life choices - ones that I would never make, but it was obvious that they would never, ever, live in my life. Cars, traffic, congestion, pollution, politics, and more are all repulsive to them.

(The ice has started to form in the Bay. These large layers of cracked ice flow were not there when we arrived 3 days ago.)
 

After the session we went to the edge of town - the freezing has increased exponentially in the last 72 hours. Large stacks of cracked plates of ice, pushed to shore with each changing tide, lined the now frozen beach. Rocks and cliffs were slick with sheet ice. Per the bus driver (a born and raised Churchill native), if the weather conditions stay the same for the next few days, the polar bears will be gone by the end of the week - off hunting for the first time in many months.

(Polar Bear Alert: Do not walk beyond this area! This sign is at the edge of town. Not shown in this picture, just a few yards from the sign, is a children's playground.)

Finally some down time - all of 60 minutes. The NAVC faithful hit the dozen or so gift shops along the main street, eventually making their way to our final meal in Churchill, at Gypsies Restaurant.

A bus to the airport. A few quick stops for photo ops (it's never too late to get one last Pulitzer Prize-winning photo). We hurried up in order to get to the airport and our charter was not there. The airline did not have us on the schedule. Thank heavens for confirmation numbers - Dr. Walton showed the receipt to the counter clerk. The counter clerk called Joe, who called the restaurant (and found out that there were two pilots eating at Gypsies!) who then called Shelton so that someone would find and then bring our luggage to the plane. They rounded up some cabin attendants, and within an hour a 105 passenger 737 carried the 23 NAVC travelers back to Winnipeg.

(Members of the Bipolar Club - participants in both the Antarctica and the polar bear NAVC Expeditions.)
 

We got to the hotel late, but still had time for our farewell dinner. Dr. Walton gave a slide show of our Antarctica Expedition from 2008, a picture journey with the LAVC Rainforest trip last month, a photo montage of this past week with the polar bears, and a preview of our next Expedition program in Galapagos, June 2010.

The group filled out their course evaluations (all very positive!), got their C.E. certificates, and signed the polar bear NAVC Expedition flag - to be displayed at the January NAVC Conference in Orlando, Florida.

To finish out the night, I gave one final presentation - 20 minutes of magic!

It has been a magnificent experience. Several Antarctica explorers renewed friendships and several new ones were made. The trip is over and we all head back to the real world tomorrow.

Don't leave me yet. I'll have some final thoughts on the future of the NAVC Expeditions program, the polar bear, and our responsibility to the world around us. 'Till tomorrow…….

(Amazing! After a thrilling lecture on amphibians and reptiles of the Arctic, Dr. Barten actually found, hiding under a rock, a rare specimen of Rana arcticus - the Churchill Snow frog (Blue phase). [Editor's note - this has NOT been verified. You should not use this photo in a refereed manuscript])

(Dr. Joe Chiosi and Moira LeCouter take a moment to catch up on their favorite veterinary journal, Clinician's Brief.)

(Several of the NAVC Explorers participated in Halloween, Churchill-style.)