Tag Archives: western hudson bay polar bears

Polar Bear Blog – Frozen Planet

Posted on March 13, 2013 by munck
dancer-2007

Well, we are just entering the most critical time of year for polar bears. Many cubs have emerged from the dens and seal hunting season is just beginning. We should have some pics from of new cubs soon but our friend from Watchee Lodge took 11,000 pictures so… it might take a while to sort through them. Judging from the spike in my site visits, it also appears that its arctic documentary season, I think … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Arctic, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Polar Bear Blog – Give the Bears a Break (Please)

Posted on March 4, 2013 by munck
polar-bears-mom-cub-ice

Last week, I wrote an Opinion Piece called ‘Give the Bears a Break’ for the Winnipeg Free Press Dr. Ian Stirling subsequently responded and dismissed by concerns. Essentially citing the fact that I have no scientific background and am therefore not qualified to express my opinion. He also cites a recent study by the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group (led by Amstrup, Stirling and Derocher)… not that I have been able to locate this paper … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Arctic, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Polar Bear Blog – State of the Western Hudson Bay Polar Bears

Posted on February 27, 2013 by munck
mom-and-cubs

Well, its International Polar Bear Day whatever that means… there’s some NGOs promoting eco-solutions and that’s good, personally I prefer the ‘Stink For The Bears’ campaign that asks everyone not to shower (I’m way ahead of the curve on that one!) Its also ‘Pink T-Shirt’ day as in Anti-Bullying Day which is a worthy cause as well. Anyway, for International Polar Bear Day… I thought I would do a little ‘State of the Polar Bears … Continue reading →

Posted in Bear Season, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear Alert, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill, Tundra Buggy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Polar Bear Blog – Samuel Hearne’s Polar Bears

Posted on February 21, 2013 by munck
Dancer

Samuel Hearne is my favourite explorer and, really, one of Canada’s first naturalists. He is best known for walking from Churchill to the Arctic Ocean (Kugluktuk) and back and for surrendering Prince of Wales Fort to the French (it happens…). Anyway, although he had no formal education, Hearne had a real passion for animals and birds along Hudson Bay. During his posting at Churchill, he kept pet beavers, ran foot races with moose, made some … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Arctic, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Polar Bear Alley – Churchill’s Bears and Hudson Bay Winter

Posted on February 12, 2013 by munck
mom-and-cubs

Well, enough polar bear politics for a while… hard to get away from that stuff though. Let’s try and figure out what the bears are up to out on the ice. Temperatures have finally levelled off, it is even up around -15C today which is literally t-shirt weather, really – assuming, of course, that you have a merino wool underlayer. However, until now, Churchill has been locked in a deep freeze since pretty much the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bear Season, Canadian Arctic, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Polar Bear Blog – Let’s Feed The Bears (Some More)

Posted on February 5, 2013 by munck
Brian-bear-landscape

So, I have seen this idea come up here and there… most recently, it started with Robert Buchanan from Polar Bears International and now with one of his researchers, Andrew Derocher. The idea is to feed polar bears (specifically Churchill’s bears) while they are on land to help offset the decline in sea ice. Offhand it seems insane; after you have lived in the north for a while, insane seems intriguing. Incidentally, this idea first … Continue reading →

Posted in Bear Season, Canadian Arctic, Cape Churchill, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear Alert, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill, Tundra Buggy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Polar Bear Blog – Polar Bear Fasting and Feasting

Posted on January 29, 2013 by munck
Polar bear tests the fence.

A new study is out saying that polar bears can likely withstand a longer fasting period on land. An overview of the paper can be found at polarbearscience.com. I agree with this to an extent. Even though Churchill’s polar bears are out on the ice, they are in fact still losing weight right now. They will hit their lowest weights by spring, just in time to feast on seal pups and young seals that just … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Arctic, Churchill Manitoba News, Climate Change and Polar Bears, Polar Bear News, Polar Bears of Churchill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Polar Bear Blog – Winter, Freeze-up and Churchill’s Polar Bears

Posted on January 15, 2013 by munck

Well, it is around -50C with the windchill in Churchill today. The school bus is frozen up and being towed across town, the Canadian Rangers are heading out for an exercise out on the land and, most everyone else is staying inside and/or facebooking. That’s what Churchillians are up to so how about the bears… As I have said before, January is not a really big month for the polar bears of western Hudson Bay. … Continue reading →

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