Churchill Polar Bears, 8th November 2016

Capturing images of polar bears outside the confines of 'buggy land' requires much patience. However, I believe this sequence of images of a bear by the beach demonstrates that it's possible to show the context more effectively from a viewpoint closer to their eye level. They also serve as a apt reminder that polar bears are marine animals, travelling along the shores of Hudson Bay in what has been proving a vain hope so far this year that the sea ice will form, giving them the habitat they need to feed.

Churchill 2016 Contents
6th November
7th November
8th November
9th November
10th November
11th November
12th November
13th November

Churchill Polar Bears, 7th November 2016

On my second day in Churchill, I took a tour on a Tundra Buggy, a specialised vehicle which is able to access areas too rugged for even a 4WD SUV to travel on. This is the most common method of polar bear viewing, particularly on package tours (though it is possible to book day trips on them independently, as I did). I've written previously about the controversy of this method of what can be considered industrial tourism. Certainly, it is dependant upon the very fossil fuels which are threatening the bears' habitat, though in my experience, some of the worst excesses of the past, including venturing off the established trails (and thus damaging the tundra), and attracting the bears by greasing the tyres of the buggies are no longer practiced. This type of excursion is most likely to get you closest to polar bears, and offers the greatest chance of seeing a variety in a short period of time. However, it doesn't offer solitude in the wilderness (the Buggies are crowded with sometimes insensitive tourists), and gives rise to numerous pictures being posted online like mine above, with an unnaturally high viewpoint. If you're a very keen photographer, it is possible to hire guides in Churchill who will allow you to capture more natural viewpoints. If you are set on a buggy tour, the two reputable companies are Frontiers North and Great White Bear Tours (the latter used by Natural Habitat for its tours). A third company called Lazy Bear advertises tours at a similar cost, but doesn't have the permits to venture beyond Bird Cove, which is open to anyone with a rental vehicle. If, however, you wish to prioritise a low impact and educational experience, I can strongly recommend the non-profit organisation Great Bear Foundation, with whom I have travelled several times. I don't recommend travelling independently, as I do, unless you're familiar with the area and with safety in polar bear country.

Churchill 2016 Contents
6th November
7th November
8th November
9th November
10th November
11th November
12th November
13th November

Churchill Polar Bears, 6th November 2016

November 2016 marked my seventh trip to the town of Churchill, Manitoba. For the first time, I travelled by air instead of train to Winnipeg: this allowed four more bear viewing days in Churchill but I missed the experience of two nights in each direction on the train with slowly changing scenery, and the magic of waking up to dawn on the tundra and arrival in the polar bear capital of the world. This year, awareness of this remote settlement in the UK was far higher than normal, as a well informed BBC documentary series Arctic Live had aired just before I departed. Alas, temperatures were also abnormal: for the first time in my experience at this time of year, snow cover was minimal, and the roads were awash with melt water. This was fortuitous for me, as United had lost all my clothing in Chicago, so I had to rely on items borrowed from other visitors and locals, but is exceedingly bad news for the bears. They rely on sea ice to hunt seals: until Hudson Bay freezes, they're reduced to foraging for seaweed and conserving energy resting on land, and the window they have to gain weight before the summer is reduced.

Contents
6th November
7th November
8th November
9th November
10th November
11th November
12th November
13th November