Bears, Belugas & Beyond

Imagine yourself having a job where you get up in the morning, buckle into the pilot’s seat of your helicopter and fly over the arctic terrain looking for polar bears? When you find one you shoot them with a sleeping dart, land your chopper, tag them, weigh them, attach a GPS satellite tracking collar on them, and then go and look for another? That is what Dr. Nick Lunn is doing daily at the CNSC while we are here. During breakfast, he told us that yesterday he tagged 10 bears. Meanwhile, back at the University of Alberta, graduate students gather and track the data on the location of the bears about every 4 days. They are studying their migratory paths and the timing of when they venture out onto the ice in Hudson Bay for their winter hunting.

Polar bears roam the ice of Hudson Bay hunting seals. When the ice melts in July, the bears come ashore. They remain on land until the bay freezes over in late November. While on land the bears eat little and are quite inactive. As autumn approaches, they begin to move northward along the coast and congregate where the first winter ice forms. This annual movement brings many bears into the town of Churchill each year. Polar bears are dependent upon the sea ice for hunting, breeding, and in some cases access to denning. Dr. Lunn believes that the main threat to polar bears today is the loss of their icy habitat due to climate change. The summer ice loss in the Arctic is now equal to an area the size of Alaska, Texas, and whole the state of Washington combined.

Today, it was our turn to go searching for polar bears! On our day off, the Team took a tour with a local naturalist and guide, Paul Raston, owner of Nature First guided tours. Our plan was to follow the Hudson Bay coastline westward through Polar Bear Alley, all the way to the mouth of the Churchill River at Cape St. Mary’s. Along the way, we spotted bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and arctic foxes, along with Canadian Eskimo dogs, Canadian geese, snow geese, and sandhill cranes. And…



Yes, we saw polar bears! In fact, we saw four: one just walking casually across the tundra, two lying, and one standing on the rocks near the coastline of Hudson Bay. Paul told us that the one lying closest to us could reach us in a full-out sprint in 5 seconds or less, so we chose to stick very close our armed guide and not venture any closer. He also told us to keep in mind that females weigh 300 to 600 pounds while males are noticeably larger, and weigh between 700 to 1,500 pounds. Polar bears are insulated by a 4 inch thick layer of fat. Two layers of fur shield their dark skin from the wind. This allows the bear to maintain a healthy body temperature when the air temperature drops as low as -30°F. Churchill, Manitoba is considered to be the “Polar Bear Capital of the World” because you can view polar bears close up out on the tundra like nowhere else. It has an active annual population of approximately 900-1000 polar bears.



As we traveled along the coastline, we were constantly noticing numerous white shapes appearing and disappearing as if something large was rolling through the water. Every once in a while you could catch glimpse of a tail, and blowhole, or a head. It wasn’t until we arrived at Cape St. Mary’s that we could have our best look at the many beluga whales swimming along shore. We found the beluga whale to be a small, toothed whale that is white as an adult. Their body is stout and has a small, blunt head with a small beak, tiny eyes, thick layers of blubber, and a rounded melon. They only have one blowhole. Beluga means "white one" in Russian. Its genus, Delphinapterus, means "whale without fins", and the species, leucas, means white. Coincidentally, the beluga can also be called a white whale, a white porpoise, a sea canary (because they sing!), and the squid hound (based on what they eat).

We also had just enough time to make a thorough visit of two local centers of culture: the Eskimo Museum and the Parks Canada Historical Exhibit at the Train Depot in Churchill. Both were well worth the visit, each providing rich insights into the heritage, customs, and events that shaped the lives of the indigenous and immigrant people of Churchill. This nearly perfect day ended with conversation and laughter among new friends over the course of a grilled arctic char dinner.



Rather than pose a question today, I’d rather give you a similar activity like I had on my day off today – to go exploring. Check out the following links for further information on two of the biggest reasons why so many ecotourists visit Churchill every year:

Polar bear conservation through research and education:
http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/

Also don’t miss Bjorn the polar bear and What if it all means something?
http://polarbearsinternational.org/photo-and-video-gallery/music-videos/

SeaWorld Presents Beluga Whales Conservation & Research:
http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/beluga/conservation.htm

Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society Passions for Wildlife Report on the Beluga Whale:
http://www.northwestwildlife.com/articles/the_beluga_whale.pdf

Enjoy your exploration! Share your discoveries with your friends and family. Remember, we only protect what we care about, but we cannot love what we don’t understand.