Saturday was our day off and it was extremely busy. We had a fantastic tour of the Churchill area. Our guide Sheldon was knowledge, funny, and adept at dealing with a group of teachers who ask countless questions. he also was a wealth of information about local color and history. The day started off extremely cold and we were warned to bundle up. I had on my usual layers but I must say that the center staff was right: It was cold!

 We saw fissures in a tundra area where the freezing , thawing, freezing, thawing has opened up fissures in the surface. The ground below is extremely cold. The main question everyone kept asking was: "Will we see a polar bear?" The answer was a YES! So off we went to hunt one down. We found a polar bear that our guide, Sheldon said was at least 1000 pounds. we found another bear up on a rock ledge that appeared to be eating some large animal. The bear was engrossed in what it was doing and was barely moving especially when a helicopter came over head. Apparently, polar bears are afraid of the helicopters because that is how they are transported back to the wild. Polar bears up here are tagged to monitor them in their travels as well as when they enter into human settlements. If a polar bear is a continuous offender at hanging out where there is human habitation, they are put into the polar bear jail and not feed as a punishment. after, a time they are then taken by helicopter back to their natural habitat in the hope they will stay there.

Here is a picture of the polar bear tanks used to capture the animals.

This is the jail where bears with bad behavior are kept until they can be returned to their natural habitat.

Do you know what a "habitat" is?

How much food do you think polar bears eat in a day? What is the purpose of putting the polar bears in the jail?

We also saw a number of other wildlife on our tour. 

The picture on the left is of the Arctic fox and the one on the right is the Arctic hare.

I was able to walk up close the the hare but the fox was at a distance.

The clouds here are amazing. The light and colors change dramatically minute by minute. I find myself drawn to the landscape. fall is here and the colors are an abundance of reds, oranges and yellows.In many ways it feels like home. I didn't expect to view the Arctic's edge from this perspective. There are endless distances, but the colors, textures,  and shapes are extraordinary.