Monthly Archives: November 2007

We headed out into buggyland on a tour with Great White Bear today. Our first stop was a gathering of bears out on the newly forming ice (which once again has been redistributed by changing winds). Twelve bears were visible, sitting together and circling around each other. Soon, through the spotting scope we saw the reason, a big red spot on the ice… there had been an early season seal kill. We watched as bears … Continue reading →

There’s a Tom Mangelsen print that is pretty famous up here. It is a photograph of three young male bears sitting back, almost reclining on the ice, called ‘Bad Boys of the Arctic’. It kind of captures the spirit of the up and coming males of the polar bear population, a little bit lazy, a little bit surly. Today, we filmed one such young male strolling around Camp Nanuq. He was maybe four or five … Continue reading →

The part I miss most about buggy driving is anticipating bear behaviour. It gives me such a charge to think like a bear and try to position my crew in the spot that will give us the best viewing and least impact on the bear’s life. There’s really only one thing in life that really gives me more satisfaction than watching and thinking about bear behaviour and, well, we really don’t need to talk about … Continue reading →

Kaz and the last film crew left today so I am now working with Japanese Film Crew Number Two with Martin. This was our first day on the road, this time focused solely on bears and bear behaviour. It is cold today, it must be -25C with the windchill when its -25 your nose gets a special pain that can only mean its truly winter this day. Anyways, its cold and the bears have really … Continue reading →

This morning, Manitoba Conservation airlifted two bears out of the polar bear jail. Its a pretty common occurrence in ‘bear season’, as more bears come near town, the jail gets a little crowded and bears are moved north of Churchill, about fifty or sixty kilometres. Of course, they are also relocated when VIPs come to town or when film crews pay for the helicopter time. It helps the budget… So, today, my film crew were … Continue reading →