Polar Bears of Churchill
If you like the Polar Bear Blog, check out my first book, Polar Bears of Churchill. It combines over ten years of guiding experience in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada with the latest scientific research, local history and a bit of cabin fever. Independently published. Available online for $14.95!
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Author Archives: munck
Polar Bear Blog – Open Water in Churchill
Well, I am back from a quick trip to Churchill and the cabin and non-blogging – for some reason, I stopped blogging while I was actually IN Churchill… oh well. Either way, spring has arrived along Hudson Bay with swans and geese swarming Churchill last week. Pacific Loons have settled back into the lake at Camp Nanuq and even White-crowned Sparrows, Bonapartes Gulls and Long-tailed Ducks are picking their spots. Male Ptarmigan were in pitched … Continue reading
Posted in Beluga Whales, Camp Nanuq, Canadian Arctic, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Churchill Polar Bears, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill
Tagged arctic sea ice, churchill manitoba, churchill polar bears, churchill river, hudson bay, polar bear alley, polar bear blog, polar bears, polar bears of churchill, sea ice hudson bay
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Polar Bear Blog – Polar Bears and Ice Scars
The ice looks to be fairly good this year across much of the arctic and most reports are of a late spring (there was just a blizzard in Churchill yesterday…) so that’s more good news for the bears. There is a nice ‘floe edge’ near Churchill right now, some pictures of seals basking in the sun are floating around. At this time for year, seals both will haul out on the ice to warm up … Continue reading
Polar Bear Blog – Different Polar Bears, Different Places
Well, my brain is all twisted up after that trip! I’ll try to be a bit more eloquent than my last post but the message is still the same… I was pretty anti-hunting before this trip (and I guess I still am) but, man, there is something about a polar bear hunt that really gets inside you. Roland and I tracked bears for almost two weeks, following pressure ridges and open leads on the sea … Continue reading
Polar Bear Blog – About a Pingo
Still out there… somewhere. Here’s a story about how everything began in the meantime… From ‘Across Time and Tundra’, a history of the Inuvialuit People… Long ago, the Inuvialuit lands were not as they are today. Instead of countless rivers and lakes, the land was barren and mountainous, and game was very scarce. But the pingo or ice hill called Ibyuk, which today stands overlooking the town of Tuktoyaktuk, was already in existence, and on … Continue reading
Polar Bear Blog – Coppermine… Finally! Sort Of!
If this is posted, I’m still out on the land… will be back May 1st. Anyway, here’s a quick note from Kugluktuk… Coppermine! After all these years, I finally make it to Kugluktuk, practically arctic spitting distance from Bloody Falls… and I’m not even spending a day here. Crazy. Kugluktuk means ‘place of rapids’. The airport has signs of the Copper Inuit oral history and while there are many mentions of Hearne and Bloody Falls, … Continue reading
Posted in Churchill Manitoba News
Tagged arctic, coppermine, inuit, kugluktuk, polar bear blog, samuel hearne
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Polar Bear Blog – Seal Dens and Sea Ice
Well, we ended up back in town a bit inadvertantly today. Camped about 60 miles out at Ivitallik on Prince Albert Sound, we woke up to blue skies and no wind. The no wind part being especially exciting. So, we went hunting for polar bear tracks. My guide, Roland Notaina, is really good – we must have navigated over 100 miles of sea ice today – the latter half in whiteout conditions. There is a … Continue reading
Posted in Churchill Manitoba News
Tagged polar bear alley, polar bear blog, victoria island
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Polar Bear Blog – Fluffy Snow and Off We Go
Well looks like we’re heading out to Prince Albert sound, its pretty white out there today, soft snow falling to me it looks like the makings of a real blizzard but there’s a glow of the sun behind the clouds so who knows – that’s what guides are for… Wynniatt Bay to the north still sounds like their in blizzard mode. The helicopter researchers seem to be grounded a fair bit and even the local … Continue reading
Polar Bear Blog – Heading Out Maybe
So, how do you begin a quest for a grolar bear. Well, if the first step in an arctic expedition is a few hours on the phone with Aeroplan, the next step is usually a ‘weather day’. If so, we are right on schedule. A west wind has brought some fluffy snow and the light is pretty flat, I have my doubts we will leave today – then again, I was surprised to see the … Continue reading
