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Tourist's guide to Churchill, Manitoba, Canada includes hotels, tours, trip planning and some survival tips.

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Polar Bear Blog - October 28, 2009 - Singing in the Rain

It has been raining off and on for a couple days now, temperatures still mild with climate change winning the chess game on Hudson Bay today. More bears have arrived out east, with a few sets of mothers and cubs now regularly spotted albeit a little soggy. More wildlife in general is around, last night a silver fox darted across my path in town, cross and silver foxes both are being seen regularly near the flats and a few more along the road out of town. Business as usual even if it is maybe a week late.

Conservation held the first 'bear lift' of the season, a communal event where a rag tag collection of green, white, yellow and red buses gather around the polar bear jail and tourists watch a polar bear or two laid out in a sturdy net then lift by helicopter and whisked away, eventually released 30 miles north of Churchill near a place fittingly called North River.

Speaking of north, there's a good strong north wind today, a sign that the seasons are about to switch. Good thing because the lakes that were frozen when I got here are now thawing out and the tundra is definitely not hard as a rock as it usually is this time of year. It might be tricky though, 10-15cm of snow is predicted and if we get a good insulating layer of snow, the lakes, peat and muskeg won't really freeze meaning travel to buggylands and traplines tricky and messy.

And speaking yet more of north, I am actually heading the opposite of said topic as in south. When I woke up to another misty morning yesterday, I decided peru might be a nice alternative to chasing rainy day bears and so I am flying to Lima on Friday for a couple weeks. Yes, it sounds like I am independently wealthy but in reality, I just weighed the cost of shipping my van from Churchill to Winnipeg and the cost of flying across the planet and the planet won!

Its also probably time to go, probably was a few years ago actually, but bear season is a little different than how I remember it and maybe its time for me to find a few new places. Both tour companies, NatHab and Tundra Buggy have blogs now so you should be able to keep up adequately there and, well, despite some climate change hiccups things are shaping up pretty much on schedule, even if a little flexible, this year anyway. Adios!

Polar Bear Blog - October 26, 2009 - Driving With Boris

Well no bears today, or even ptarmigan, foxes or swans although we did see a big white dog and a couple ravens. I mean there are bears - there are always bears at Brian's dogs - and I'm sure there's wildlife out there but today was more about driving and chit chatting, not to mention, its ranging between +1 and -2C so a bit too balmy for bears to be moving along the coast too much.

Boris has been in Churchill since 1952, after waiting in Ontario for three months before immigration sent him and his wife to Churchill. He summed up the immigration policy... 'It took three days by train from Toronto to get to Churchill. They paid for it all and gave us $65 to get started, that was a lot of money in those days. They said it was the only place, they could come back south if it was too cold. It was cold the first winter but by the second, I got used to it.'

It took four years for Boris to see a bear in Churchill, they just were not around that much. He figures it was because the hides were not worth that much so any bear that was encountered out on the trapline or down by York Factory was just shot for dog food, maybe some was eaten but not much. It kind of makes sense because by 1956-57, people had essentially been moved out of York Factory and off the coast - less people in the summer range of the bears means more bears heading to Churchill in the fall. There was a trapper named Henry Johnson that ran a line out on Cape Churchill, I have a feeling he might have had healthy dogs.

I asked Boris if the military harvested a lot of bears when they were here, he doesn't think so. He remembered the first bear, a female bear that was shot by the military but her cub stayed around for days. The Royal Canadian Mounted police and U.S. Military had several meetings to discuss the situation, it was a serious issue. After that, the military men were told not to shoot bears unless in self-defence. Of course, there were a couple officers that were known to take a bear or two and the occasional pelt made it out on planes headed back to the states.

Of course, times have changed and the good news is that buggyland has reported the first mother and cub to show up at Tundra Buggy Lodge in a few weeks now, a sign of the start of the second wave of bears (although an early sign). Hopefully, the temperatures drop a bit - although its not forecasted - and the numbers jump up.

On the other hand, polar bear alert officers are probably fairly content with mild temperatures after a busy summer. Only two bears were added to D-20 this week (bringing the total up to 14 - only half of the maximum capacity) as a result of 9 bear occurrences (most of those calls probably came from the one bear encounter behind Simpson street a couple days ago. Of course, even with low bear numbers in town, a couple film crews are due in this week and they provide an important source of income fo Manitoba Conservation's polar bear alert program so its highly likely that a couple bears will be flown out next week.

Polar Bear Blog - October 26, 2009 - Strictly Commercial

Sun is just coming up, its around 8:30, an orange glow over the predictable peaks of public housing. Dark shapes are slowly taking form, although equally predictable, reflecting the different paint jobs of various provincial renovations, upgrades and such to the units, usually the ones located along the 'tourist routes' - early years are more fall colours, the latest round of renovations now more 'contemporary Sears' reds, blues and taupes.

I also got an email from Lamberton Tours out of Calgary. Classic Canadian Tours, has some space available on their same day return Tundra Tour on Thursday Nov12th from Calgary to Churchill. They do direct flights from Calgary/Edmonton into Churchill for a day of bears and gift shops and then back. The day begins at 0615am in Calgary Alberta and ends back in Calgary a 830pm that evening. They also have openings on their November 12th jet for 'flight only' spots so if anyone is feeling the need to get to Churchill from a day or if any bear seasoners are ready to jump on a plane and get as far away from Churchill as they can by then this is your chance! Call Classic Canadian Tours for more info at 1-866-460-1415 or check the website at www.classiccanadiantours.com.

Also, Evan Reeve a singer/songwriter from Churchill just had his CD release party this past Saturday - hence the slow day on the bus for me on Sunday. It was pretty awesome, Churchill has a great live music scene this season (I can't believe I just used 'live music scene' in an entry but whatever...). So, if you're headed to Churchill, pick one up and help him become famous - its a six song e.p. in the hopes of making enough $$ for a full CD next year. Even email polar bear alley and I can get you a CD - they're only $10!

And, of course, my magazine is out and about - Hudson Bay post Bear Season Edition. Its $6.95 (subscriptions only $20 for four issues a year!). Of course, this could be the worst year possible to launch a new magazine in Churchill given that amidst the tourist decline is an even greater tourist spending decline. Then again, $7 is a pretty cheap Churchill souvenir...

Of course, there are also those pangs of 'what was I thinking' and 'I can't believe I wrote that' that have always plagued my newspaper career, sometimes wondering why I would throw myself out there as a lightning rod in a town that sometimes has a tendency to grind you up and spit you out anyway. Still, the strange mix of compliments and criticism (which somehow ends up mixed in to some of the compliments) is kind of addictive - although having a bear season of no stress would probably get addictive as well... then again so would going to Chile for three weeks instead of Churchill... hmm, I should stop now.

Temperatures are still pretty warm for bears, hovering around -2 or so. Maybe I'll go find my friend Boris and look for some bears today. He's been around Churchill for fifty odd years (odd being a fairly subjective word here) and should have a few good stories.

Polar Bear Blog - October 25, 2009 - Tide Comes In, Tide Goes Out

Took a day off and stayed on my friend's bus down by the river today. Its an old shell of a bus with a variety of additions and knicks knacks tacked on, just sticking out to the river's edge - sandwiched between the lights of the port on one side, sunset on the other, could be the nicest view in Churchill framed by caribou antlers and a 'no hippies' sign.

In summer, the beluga whales drift by, travelling with the tides, feeding on little schools of fish called capelin. For now, the whales have been replaced by fresh water ice, dragged up river by the tide. Fresh water ice is like a clear ribbon of skin formed on the water, flat and smooth as it thickens by the day. It floats up river in the hopes of meeting some bergy bits and greasy saltwater ice. Saltwater sinks as it freezes leaving the impression of an albino oil spill washing ashore twice a day, leaving a wash of white along the rocks, gravel and sand of Churchill's beaches as it retreats.

Today, there is nothing to meet the freshwater ice though. The river is clear under the frosty blues of fall skies and reflections of grain ships and eerily neo-communist buildings that suround them. Bear season has gone from a feeling of impending doom with ice formed in the coves and lakes frozen by mid-October to the usual relief (at least for tour operators) of a mid-season 'warm' spell. Of course, we shouldn't talk about a late season too soon because one shift in winds and one blizzard can change all of that but right now it looks good. We'll see how next Sunday replies.

Polar Bear Blog - October 23, 2009 - Buntings and Bullets Flying Around

Lots of gun fire last night, polar bear alert were escorting a bear out of town around eleven p.m. He was trying to sneak in along the coast, up by the water treatment plant north of churchill, one of the usual spots for bear activity. I think he showed up at The Flats, near the Churchill River, later - the husky next door was barking up a storm around 4am.

So a few more bears moving around and more and more snow buntings flocking up as the days pass. Snow buntings are little brown and white birds that are among the first to show up in the spring, spend the summer in the high arctic and then cruise through again during bear season. Kind of a sign of the beginning of the end...

Of course, temperatures are now looking like they will stay slightly above normal with more snow that may or may not stay. A good sign for the buntings who are still stocking up on willow seeds and such and a good sign for late season polar bear tourists. Of course, forecasts do have a way of being slightly 'off' up here.

Another surprise this season is the end of shipping for the year. It sounds as though the last ships are in port right now being loaded up and heading out this weekend. This is a week or even two earlier than recent history, this combined with the early season woes (icebreaker breakdowns and such), long ice season and late start (August 8th I believe, about a week or ten days late) sounds like it will result in a fairly slow year for the port of Churchill. Bad news for the buntings, considering they make regular stops at the port to supplement their diet with a bit of Canadian Red Spring Wheat.

Polar Bear Blog - October 22, 2009 - One More Year With Dancer

My 4x4 van - the Unicorn - got in today and after a hiccup or two, I made it out on the road to check out the trails and such between town and Buggyland. We're kind of in that snow yet no snow zone where it seems to snow everyday but there's still no real snow on the ground. Fall skies are taking hold, with deep blue clouds and yellows of the low-arcing sun, its a pretty special time of year.

Stopped at Brian's dogs this afternoon, a kind of gathering place for a few big bears every year. This year Dancer ended up there and I got a pretty good look at him today. Dancer is about as close to a bear celebrity as Churchill has seen. He was kind of the main feature of the polar bear cam and before that one of the last 'cape' bears of the early years. Now, he has moved out of buggyland and is staying along the coast, outside of town and polar bear alert.

He must be around twenty, showing his age a bit but again in great shape. You can see the sharper edges in his shoulders and hips of age, his back is a bit more swayed and his neck is a little skinnier (though still massive) giving him an almost gaunt look - if an 800-900 lb bear can be classified as gaunt...

There are three other bears hanging out there - two more massive brutes and one smaller but still large bear. One of the big ones has a big black mark on his back, a sign that he has been handled (darted and tagged) by Canadian Wildlife Service. Bears are marked aas such not just so they are not darted from helicopter again but also because the meat should not be ingested by Inuit hunters for up to a year after a bear has been drugged. Naturally, he is pretty skittish (again as skittish as a say 900-1000 lb bear can be) but he definitely looks like one of the large males out east last year.

Another notable appearance this year and one that I have not mentioned yet is the arrival of barren ground grizzlies in Churchill. Several years ago, there was an anomalous sighting of a grizzly in Wapusk National park and a few stories since. This year, there are four confirmed sightings this summer (likely two or three different bears) and a few more unconfirmed as well. Chalk one up for climate change - grizzlies have come back to Manitoba. The closest sighting to Churchill was along polar bear alley (the real polar bear alley) this summer. A grizzly poked his head up out of the lyme grass and dashed across the road. More were seen out east near the Snow Goose research station at La perouse Bay in Wapusk National park.

Of course, the grizzlies have headed inland to den for the winter but chances are they will be around next summer too. A few locals feel that they may be feeding on seals as well as berries et al, simply due to their sheer girth this summer.

It also sounds like we may have a couple skunk bears around too. Okay, so skunk bear was the old name for wolverine but pretty exciting to think that I might see a wolverine this year. There have been sightings at L5 garbage dump and at Camp Nanuq. Wolverines are renowned as trapline raiders and generally being 'nuts'. A few years back, I found wolverine tracks following a mother and her cubs in the spring. Here's hoping that one hasn't decided to make a home underneath my cabin this year.

Polar Bear Blog - October 22, 2009 - Sore paw Somewhere

First bear at Camp Nanuq yesterday, my neighbour saw him, sounds like he walked across the lake while I was trying to fix one of my prospector tents. He's a young bear but the ice was just thick enough to hold him, even if it was creaking and groaning as he passed by. We found his tracks out by the Camp Nanuq boyscout camp, although he found the truck before we found him - hiding in the trees while the truck passed then dashing across the road as we passed and turned the corner.

There's blood on his tracks, looks like he's found some nailboards somewhere. Nailboards, also called Churchill welcome mats, are simply 3/4" plywood boards with rows and rows of thick nail nailed through them. They work pretty well as a bear deterrent - although I have seen a young bear standing on a nail board, hissing and getting generally riled up, not realizing that the pain is somewhat self-induced. Other times, I've seen nailboards methodically nudged out of the way until a safe access path was created to the window/door/cabin/fridge...

I caught a glimpse of him sneaking through the trees, headed back east to Tundra Buggy launch and the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. Judging by the grime and grease covering the back half of him, he's probably the little bear that got into the Tundra Buggy garbage truck a couple nights ago.

It also turns out that some bear did get into my shed after all. A squashed five gallon pail with bear tooth marks was laying by the greenhouse, a pail which had been stored in the shed complete with 8x8 timbers piled against the door - which of course, are not much defence if a bear truly has the time to work with human interruption. It also sounds like he dragged my zodiac, an inflatable boat, and anything petroleum-based is a favourite snack of bears (including much to my chagrin my ATV seat and handle grips a couple years ago). Luckily, he must have been interrupted by one of my neighbours because somehow there's no puncture marks or really any damage to the boat at all - must have been dessert after the pail.

This bear will probably roam around the area for a few more days before the temperatures cool down enough that more bears start moving and he will be pushed towards town and likely the polar bear jail. This week numbers in buggyland jumped up from about half a dozen bears to ten or twelve, still a lot of them younger bears but still a sign of the mass population starting to get a little restless along the coast. Should be another wave of bears coming pretty soon.

Polar Bear Blog - October 21, 2009 - Cabin Still There, Strawberries Are Gone Though

Despite a couple rumours to the contrary, the cabin is still intact and somewhat boarded up. A bear did walk through and try to eat the barbeque but that was kind of expected and my prospector tents are still collapsed but that's my fault not the bears. Anyway, the breaker is flipped and the baseboard heaters are warming up the cabin for a good woodstove night tonight.

And despite Churchill's cold summer, there were still two strawberries in the strawberry patch - which is actually three plants near an old woodstove and willows - with another ten strawberries still unripened. Even frozen, soggy and dirt covered, they tasted pretty good.

Stopped by my neighbour's cabin - he was back at Camp Nanuq winding down from a nine-day 'adventure' - and he just happened to be cooking up some moose stir-fry which for all his quirks, he still is a pretty damn good cook. On the other hand, moose stir fry, a pot of boiling moose meat and sunset probably wasn't the best combination given that there was a young bear just across the lake - probably the same one that had raided Tundra Buggy's garbage truck earlier that day. There were a few nailboards scattered on the deck but probably just enough to annoy any bear as the walked in the door as opposed to warding it away.

The sun sets around 7:30 these days so not much to do at the cabin without my gun and dogs but luckily there is live music in town just about every night this year, circulating between three lounges and the occasional Royal Canadian Legion open mic night. Last night, tourists and newly arrived bear season regulars crowded into Northern Nights Lounge (formerly known as 'Northern Nightmare') to watch Denis Funk's mix of prine, Cash and an Eaglesmith or two. Its a little lounge that hasn't seen that many people for years now but used to be a regular hang out for buggy drivers and port workers. Things were still going strong when I snuck out, leaving the late night/early morning combos for the new wave of bear season staffers.

Not much like a midnight walk through Churchill in bear season. A few snowflakes still kicking around (the forecast calls for more throughout the week), streets are bereft of buses and parka'ed tourists or even any sound really. It keeps you on your toes with one eye scanning the back alleys and darkened nooks of Churchill, watching for late night, white-furred visitors; keeping the other eye out for the closest door, truck or anything to get in the way of a curious bear.

Polar Bear Blog - October 20, 2009 - Bad Year for a Climate Change Documentary

Well its been a good first day of coffee and catching up. Here's where we are so far. Tourist numbers are definitely down this year, a lot of last minute cancellations, in fact, it sounds like there isn't even one day scheduled for all eighteen tundra vehicles to be out in Buggyland at once - pretty crazy - not even 9/11 did that... Tourist spending seems to be down too - maybe this wasn't the right year for me to launch the Hudson Bay post magazine... oh well.

As for the bear that broke into the health centre, it turns out that he was a big ol' bear, probably 900+lbs and had been 'working' the area for most of the summer, keeping town staff busy trying to keep him out of 'L5' (our garbage dump storage place something something) and out of town. He was pretty crafty, making regular runs through most of the summer between the dump and town, probably heading up the back road, in and around the rocks, and circling around to enter town by Northern Nights or the RHA. He even had a stash of garbage lard pails in the trees at Lion's park... well away from prying polar bear alert eyes.

When this bear was first spotted in August (you could still see ice of the coast of Churchill by August 18th...), I'm told you could barely distinguish his legs, he was so massive and so engulfed in fat. In fact, there are quite a few stories of enormous bears this year. One dog dragged home a skull (still with some meat on it...) that once it was boiled down, measured 16" from scalp to nose, forehead probably a foot wide. First day and I've heard a few stories of big bears, might be time to put the 'bears used to be bigger' in the old days storyline to rest - it held up in the nineties but maybe less so now...

Back to the garbage bear though, turns out he actually did not end up in a trap although they tried more than a few times over the last couple months. He ended up breaking into L5 (which is next to impossible after a few years of Edgar, the town L5 defence expert's upgrades). After finding him in L5 late at night, the bay door - more of a cage than anything - was closed and boarded up with extra nailboards and even then, by morning he was working his way to loosen the nailboards and escape. Conservation officers showed up in the morning and were able to dart him. He is now about a week or so into his thirty day sentence and will probably just be released onto the newly formed ice when he is set free.

As of October 18th, there are only twelve bears still in the polar bear jail, eleven have been relocated to North River area by air with a total of 163 bear occurrences (again, an occurrence is any time a bear is encountered or reported in town). Judging by the actions of that big ol' garbage bear, he alone was probably responsible for a good number of these occurrences... Since his capture, there has only been one bear encounter in town as reported from Oct 12-18. This may not be a record year for bear activity in town after all.

The Manitoba Conservation aerial survey from the Manitoba/Ontario border up to Churchill this fall reported 252 bears - down from a record 282 last year (but then again, the ice did break up strangely this year and deposit a bunch of bears right on top and north of Churchill...). This is a very positive sign for the western Hudson Bay population given that in the lean years - when the last population study was released reporting a decline of 22% - there would only be 180 or so bears spotted in this survey. We will need a good drop of about ten degrees for big numbers of bears to start moving in, especially considering how good shape they are in this year.

Numbers are still fairly low out in buggyland, about half a dozen found throughout the area, and almost an equal number to that near Brian Ladoon's dogs, another bear hot spot in Churchill (with a few big ones hanging out there including Dancer and possibly one of the scrappy brothers - now about seven or eight years old given I last saw them in 2005). Trying to think of how old Dancer must be (possibly closing in on twenty???) but scarred as he is, he still keeps showing up, although now that Dennis has left buggyland, he doesn't stick around there.

Polar Bear Blog - October 20, 2009 - Ground Zero

That's been a long time since I broke my back trying to sleep in economy on the Muskeg Special. Actually, it was not that bad. Actually, yes it was.

But the train is great, lots of time to meet people, read, think about just what the hell happened to your life, stuff like that. The schedule's is a little weird now, hitting Gillam by eight or nine at night instead of 1am. Kind of miss the groggy, get up and walk the dogs stop while the train refills with water and the shift changes. But what I miss more is the morning roll into Churchill. We arrived in Churchill early - its such a crazy concept to try and wrap my head around - the train arrived early... I guess that's what happens when you add four hours to the schedule...

It was still dark around 7am and it felt suspiciously like sneaking into Churchill - so much for my sunrise from the train shot... A few tourists sat in the formerly lounge now breakfast car, some wondered whether we would see bears as soon as we got off the train, others wouldn't believe me when I said Churchill is only seven or eight blocks long - I mean it does look bigger by night, kind of like Regina, Sask from 25 miles away except that you're actually only one minute from downtown Churchill... Everyone's excited about their bear adventure if not the hit on their wallet.

Weather is hovering around -3C but there's a bit of ice on the lakes and even ice on the bay, bear season could end very quickly this year, all the little bits and bites of an early freeze are kind of in place. Other than that its the usual season, a chaotic scrum of buses and taxis at the train station, the VIA agent loudly announces that everyone should step back so she can unload the train, people randomly grab their luggage and wander about hoping to find their guide/bus/hotel.

You run into a few people you know, easily find someone to share a cab with, end up in a conversation about guns (there's always a conversation about guns), talk to a guide who's already at the end of his rope ('this time its really the last season...'), a bit of bear talk and head into town. Just getting settled in, van won't be here for a couple days so I have time to figure out how to launch a magazine today - probably should have thought of that one earlier - and then maybe go look for some bears this afternoon.

Polar Bear Blog - October 19, 2009 - Eighteen Hours To Go

So, in what is appearing to be a fit of sentimental insanity, I booked the train from Thompson to Churchill. Now, I am sitting at Thompson's only internet cafe with a lovely view of car dealerships and 'The MALL' and waiting for the train, which is surprisingly only one hour behind schedule. Of course, the schedule now has about four or five hours built into it as a buffer zone so that the train is never really 'behind schedule' or at least not supposed to be. Then again, the schedule has also changed about two or three times this year.

Funny to think that its been over ten years since I first hopped on the train to Churchill, pretty unsure about my capability to drive a tundra buggy and wondering what bear season was all about. The train was pretty fun, even if it was 36 hours long (from Winnipeg), it didn't take long to run into the other new buggy drivers on the train - Jp was a quirky frenchman who also happened to be a wild animal trainer - grizzlies, cougars and such - Glenn a farmer/golf course owner from western Manitoba, Everett - a parks canada interpreter and a good jaded redneck counter to my then-eco-freako tendencies and ultimately my mentor in all things jaded and redneck, which I must say I have excelled at.

The train and conversations just kind of drifted along, so did gambling in the lounge car and well, the lounge car itself - especially once the residents living at the remote communities along the line - boarded in thompson, after a weekend of shopping in the 'big city'.

Rolling into Churchill on the train is always a crazy feeling, you're going so slow and you have this pit in your stomach of excitement, nerves and then shock (at least back then) at the chaos that awaited you outside the train.

Back then, the train station was still under restoration and the 'station' was actually operating out of an ATCO trailer which doubled as a storage room for lumber, tools and sawdust. The parking lot was simply a jumble of old school buses, each painted up with sort of company colours - most of which seemed to be yellow-orange and black - highlighted with a bit of rust (also crazy to think of how many of those buses are still running today...).

It was pretty much find your own way, asking people for some kind of direction until you finally hit the right bus. By the time I did, it was a stubby old black and white International bus, with not much brakes and less steering. After a quick round of introductions, there followed a 'say, you have your bus drivers license don't you? Great, you're driving shuttle today.'

Polar Bear Blog - October 18, 2009 - Bears, Trains and Automobiles

Headed up to Thompson tonight and catching the train at (theoretically) 1pm tomorrow. First an eight or nine hour drive on the Unicorn - now stocked with every conceivable tire repair device known to man (mostly because i can't actually figure out how to change a tire on it...). Then a twelve or so hour train ride (but probably more like 20 hours...). So we'll see how that goes... I hear there's talk of VIA scaling back train service to Churchill, back to two times a week - pretty sure that was the schedule in the 40s...

Sounds like polar bear alert snagged the break-in bear. For a while, he would range from raiding Northern Nights garbage container at the northwest end of town and then take the long walk around and end up at Lazy Bear lodge on the other side of Churchill. Officers ended up putting a polar bear trap at 'Edgar's Inukshuk' right at the end of Kelsey Boulevard, Churchill's main street. Well, we each have our run I guess...

Still waiting for the first real mass arrival of bears out in buggyland, there's about half a dozen out there right now and a few more wandering along the coast between Halfway point and Churchill. There's a bigger male hanging out near Tundra Buggy lodge, probably about eight feet tall and from the looks of it, maybe six or seven years old. Most bears have been found in and around Churchill this year, a lot of them coming from across the Churchill River.

Polar Bear Blog - October 11, 2009 - Geese and Turkeys

Its Thanksgiving in Canada and probably as good a time as any to talk about geese (since there are no turkeys in the sub-arctic other than Wild Turkey). Geese are now heading south, staging at Oak Hammock Marsh near Winnipeg, before heading to the southern states for the winter, not unlike a few Winnipeggers and, well, most of retired Quebecer complete with fleur-de-lys speedo.

Usually the geese are fat and happy by this time and destined for more fat and happiness in the farm fields of the southern states. This has led to a population explosion, essentially perpetual 'boom', and increasing concern over the impact of, specifically, snow geese's impact on the arctic environment. Both Canada Geese and snow geese nest in the area around Churchill and Wapusk National park. The problem being that snow geese when they grub young plants pull them out by the roots and essentially denude the land, turning tundra into salt marsh.

The population of snow geese had been expanding so quickly and exponentially that they were now being found in areas along the coast where they never been previously recorded and were they technically should not have been nesting, not to mentino eating plants that they technically were not supposed to eat. In fact, some polar bears had begun to add snow goose eggs to their summer diet and even molting snow geese, cornering them by chasing them into nearby willows.

Of course, winter held fast this year and when the geese arrived in the spring, snow still covered the ground and ice could still be found on most of the lakes. Even when it melted, it flooded much of the nesting area. This June, there were 5-10 million geese staging in Wapusk National park, many of which should have been destined for points further north and many of which should have been settling in and laying their eggs. All reports indicate a massive nesting failure for Churchill's goose population and a reprieve for the tundra for another year.

Canada Goose migration through Winnipeg - by Winnipeg Free press

Researcher Robert Alison's Churchill birds article from June 2009

Polar Bear Blog - October 10, 2009 - Good Sign, I Guess

The weather in Churchill is definitely not predictable but during my time in Churchill, it really seems that our seasonal weather patterns and central Manitoba's, specifically the Interlake - where I grew up, are kind of flip-flopped. Basically, when Churchill has a nice summer, the Interlake has rain and cold; when Churchill has snow in July, southern Manitoba is sunny and thirty degrees (celsius... of course).

So, this weekend should be a pretty good sign for polar bear tourists. More than six inches of snow fell in central Manitoba and winter conditions prevail, with temperatures only dipping to minus five but feeling considerably wintery with the windchill. While Churchill has and is having a couple early season snowfalls, there is not much to speak of just yet. So keep your fingers crossed that winter is here to stay in the Interlake and a late arrival in Churchill.

Snow and ice usually show up in Churchill around the third week of October or even as late as Halloween. I remember my first tundra buggy season that it was still raining on Halloween and the bears just stood around in the rain grazing on berries, kelp and whatever was around. It was almost like agricultural tour day as opposed to extreme arctic adventure. Why everyone decided to eat grass all day was a little perplexing...

Lakes are usually frozen by October 25th or so, usually thick enough for Tundra Buggies to drive along the edge by early November (depending on the lake and probably the driver too). By the first week of November, it feels like the arctic again, snow, wind and ice pretty much everywhere. North winds become more consistent and ice builds up in the bay quickly. Usually by mid-November, somewhere between the 15th and 20th, there is enough ice for the bears to head out on the ice for the winter. This usually culminates with maybe 35-40 bears in the area one day and then four or five young bears wandering around and about 30-35 dots in the distance the next.

As for bear updates, a polar bear broke into the Regional Health Centre this weekend... well, their storage bay anyways. The Churchill Health Centre occupies the northwest end of the Town Centre Complex and there's a big garage door right at end of the building where the health centre stores stuff including its garbage. This particular bear has been showing up for a few days now trying to get in and finally figured it out last night. Given that the bay door faces LaVerendrye street and that there's a street light right there, he's probably been scoping things out for a while.

He's also probably an ex-con, having spent time in the bear jail and likely chased by polar bear alert before. Every year, a few of these repeat offenders show up; in fact, most bears at the dump used to be repeat offenders - first brought to the garbage dump by their mom and then returning on their own. Anyway, once a polar bear figures out how to recognize the polar bear alert vehicles, whether by sight, smell or sound, they get pretty hard to capture.

Sometimes you'll see the polar bear alert vehicle drive by and then a polar bear will dart across the street literally right behind them, lunging from one hiding place in a back alley to the next. I've known of bears that have done this literally throughout bear season; still others will simply find a good hiding spot on the outskirts of town and just make brief visits into town around three or four a.m.

Of course, to become an ex-con, you first have to be a con and that is pretty well covered by five or six polar bear traps, giant caged culverts on wheels that are baited with seal meat and parked around the edge of town - near the rocks, at the end of the Flats, the dock, behind the Navy base, etc... all the usual secret routes that bears use to come into town. Besides these traps, polar bear alert makes both a morning and afternoon patrol to check the traps and search for bears heading towards town (usually coming in from Cape Merry and the mouth of the Churchill River). Add the polar bear alert hotline to the mix and you have a pretty well protected town. And that makes it just a little more amazing at how many bears actually have figured out how to get arond these defences over the years...

Polar Bear Blog - October 6, 2009 - Busy Busy

So tourist numbers and even polar bears out in Buggyland might be quiet so far but it has been a busy year for polar bears in Churchill itself. Just last week, 17 polar bear occurrences were recorded by polar bear alert; an occurrence is recorded as any time there is a 'call out' usually from the polar bear alert hotline. To date, there have been 158 bear occurrences. This is a very high number considering that last year there were 169 calls over the entire ice free season, the last call being a straggler on December 11th.

Currently, the polar bear jail, a holding facility on the outskirts of Churchill, has 14 bears (out of a possible 29) inside. Here, the bears are held for up to thirty days in an effort to prevent problem bears from re-entering town and to discourage 'repeat offenders', of course, this does not always work. They are fed snow to keep them hydrated and cool but are not given food since they are in a natural 'walking hibernation' and would not be eating anyway. Bears are then either relocated by helicopter to the North River/Seal River area about 40-50 miles north of Churchill or are simply released along the coast once the ice freezes.

The polar bear alert program has been operating for just over forty years now, first initiated after bear encounters increased after the military withdrew from Churchill in the mid-60s. Several officers patrol the community, responding to calls to the hotline and either scaring the bears away with firecracker shotgun shells, trapping them in culvert bear traps or tranquilizing them.

For the past few years, in a large part due to the closure of the Churchill dump, bear encounters have fallen in the Churchill area (about 60% fewer bears), however, several factors, including the presence of a lead or a crack in the ice formed by wind and currents, close to Churchill this summer, has led to increased bear activity. Even though, the ice season was late this year, the first bear occurrence was recorded on July 11th.

Numbers usually build through October and peak by mid-November. A late freeze-up can usually results in a significantly higher number of occurrences in the Churchill area, since as it gets colder, more bears arrive and they become more active and, of course, more curious. Even with a regular freeze-up this year, numbers should top 250-300 encounters, however, if fall remains fairly mild and freeze-up does not occur until late November, we could easily have a record bear season to accompany a record ice season.

Some good news includes the fact that the mother and triplets spotted out in Buggyland earlier this summer never did show up in town, likely heading back inland to wait things out until later in the season. A good strategy. Of course, given the level of activity for polar bear alert this year, it might be a good strategy to stay away from polar bear alert officers by week four of bear season...

Polar Bear Blog - October 5, 2009 - Good Ol' Days Are Here Again... Sort of

Two weeks before I'm back in Churchill and from the sounds of it, its still pretty quiet up there, hopefully at my cabin too... moreso since I never quite got around to nailing the plywood back up over the windows when I was last there...

Should be interesting to see how this season shapes up with the impressive ice conditions on Hudson Bay. Barring an unseasonably warm October (it is marginally above normal but not enough to make a big difference...), 2009 should go down on record as one of the longer ice seasons since 1971, the beginning of Environment Canada's modern weather records, definitely the longest ice season since 1992 - the year in which the ice season was extended due to the global cooling caused by the eruption of Mount pinatubo.

Sea Ice Chart for Western Hudson Bay 2009

The tricky thing is that back in the eighties, Churchill's polar bear season - was not only much less developed - but also started about two weeks earlier than it does now. Even in my first season with Tundra Buggy in 1999, most drivers were in town and working by October 8th or 9th, as compared to today where some contracts start around the 20th. And, of course, everything was wrapped up by early November instead of the 21st or even 24th now.

On the other hand, fall seems to be warmer today than it was back then so that's a good sign for bear season tourists and given that every other year, I have predicted an early freeze-up, this year I might as well go with an 'almost early' freeze-up and another reprieve from a good south wind.

Note: Does anyone else think that the 'median' line is a little high on the sea ice chart? Not to mention, that if you remove the outlying years that were affected by volcanoes (1983, 1992) and the record cold of 1972, then the median is significantly lower and the decline in sea ice on Hudson Bay does not look as drastic as it is portrayed. Remove warm years 1998, 1999 and 2006 and it really seems as more of a natural cycle than anything. Just saying...

Polar Bear Blog - October 1, 2009 - More Bears, Less People...

Well, its been a while but time to start blogging again since, after all, it is that time of year where bears and bear tourists slowly overtake Churchill until its one big snowball of chaos and shuttle buses in early November. So, before too many bears get to Churchill... and before I get up to Churchill... here's an update for what's been up with the bears this year...

This spring there were definite signs of a late summer (mind you, it wasn’t expected to start in September…) but March was colder than normal not just in Churchill but across much of Hudson Bay. By late March and April temperatures normalized and storms moving through the area, including the one (actually two) that ultimately cancelled the Hudson Bay Quest dog sled race mid-way, did open up leads or cracks in the ice along Hudson Bay.

The combination of early cooler temperatures followed by open leads would have essentially created a ‘perfect storm’ for Churchill’s bears. Polar bears do the vast majority of their feeding in the spring, essentially from April until mid-July. This is a combination of breaking into seal birthlairs for seal pups and hunting seals too young to really know the rules of survival.

Back in June, the Churchill River did not ‘break’, the term given when the last ice jam opens up and flows out with the tide, until June 16. For years, the port of Churchill has kept records of break-up and 2009 tied for the latest breakup in the last fifty years. A cool summer further contributed to a good, long ice season for the bears.

There were several bears encounters in and around the town of Churchill this summer, with gun shots peppering the blue dusk of mid-summer. It sounds like this wave of activity was the result of two events. One, naturally, being the break-up of Hudson Bay, as the ice begins to disperse some bears, usually younger ones, head off straightaway, others ride it out to the end and still others, usually females head off at almost designated spots, the closest to their favoured summering areas.

This year looks good for bears, not so much for tourists, at least tourist numbers anyway. From the sounds of it, some tour companies are down as much as 30% in bookings so that probably means for any stragglers, there is still a chance to get in some late season bookings/deals... not usual that you hear deal and Churchill in the same sentence.

As for the bears, there are already two or three out in Buggyland and given the late ice season, all the bears look to be in very good shape. There is a lot of talk that this could be one of the best years for bears (health, at least... maybe numbers too) in decades.

The second event was a visit by Inuit hunters to Churchill. Since Hudson Bay is considered part of Nunavut, Canada’s Inuit territory, Inuit can harvest beluga whales provided they are not in the mouth of the Churchill River. Several belugas were shot this summer and inevitably some of them sink before the Inuit can get them and eventually wash up on shore, much to the joy of Churchill’s bear population. This second event, combined with a consistent presence of an informal 'floe edge' and open water early in the summer, is probably the real underlying factor surrounding the increase in polar bear alert activity this summer. Once the whales were ‘done’, bear encounters tailed off to similar levels of recent, post-Churchill garbage dump history, which is really pretty quiet actually.

Other exciting news from Churchill this summer includes the sighting of a mother with triplets along the coast of Hudson Bay. First reported by the summer tundra buggy tour, this is a very positive sign for Churchill’s bear population. Most bears that show up in the Churchill area can be considered as the periphery of the western Hudson Bay population, usually young, old or nutritionally challenged. Most healthy bears stay far away from Churchill until late in the season.

Wat’chee Lodge, a polar bear viewing operation focused on mothers and cubs emerging from the dens in spring, have reported triplets for the last few years as well. While triplets have been spotted moving through the Wildlife Management Area in 2006, this is the first display of a good, healthy, viable family. It will still be extremely challenging for the third cub to survive through this coming winter but this is an honest display of the health of this population. Who knows, another good ice season and maybe we’ll see two-year old triplets next year.

One of the challenges relating to a healthy bear population, at least for our slightly selfish purposes, is that there is no real reason to show up around Churchill in the fall. Most bears are ‘pushed’ to the Churhcill area, early arrivals including sub-adults (juveniles), nutritionally stressed mothers and cubs (usually young, maybe first-time mothers) or the very old bears on the decline. As October and November progress, more bears start moving along the coast of Wapusk National park and a ripple effects pushes new bears into the area, some healthier, stronger, until there is a nice overview of the western Hudson Bay population by early November.

Bears do not move if they don’t have to. If everyone is ‘fat and happy’ after a late season and successful spring hunt, then I would be surprised to see big numbers of bears until late in the season, maybe even past Halloween. Now, add this to the late break-up and cool temperatures and it could lead to a quick and possibly early (pre-November 15) freeze. Then again, Churchill has been ‘saved’ by south winds dispersing ice in early November at least a couple times in the last few years. The drama and excitement never ends!

Of course, I’m living up in the western Arctic now, just heading back for bear season, so I might as well throw in a bit of bear gossip from out here while we’re on the subject.

Close to Inuvik, Northwest Territories kind of the capital of the western Arctic, a polar bear was spotted on Shell Lake this spring, almost 150 km from the arctic shoreline and their natural habitat. Of course, it was soon confirmed to be a chunk of ice but not before the story was picked up by regional and national media… (Rumour is that this sighting started off as a bit of fun…)

Sport hunters around Tuktoyaktuk and Paulatuk are now seeking European tourists to fill the polar bear hunt spots vacated by the lack of Americans, although some American hunters still come up, hoping that they will, at some point, be able to get their hide across the border.

Bears were spotted for much of the summer near Ulukhaktok, formerly Holman, located on Victoria Island. Even here, ice was socked in much later than usual. Community members could not get out to traditional camps and bear sightings were fairly common (not Churchill common but rest of the world common…) until late July.

Still and all, 2009 is listed as the third lowest sea ice year since 1979, however, ice has been steadily increasing since a record low in 2007. There are more and more sail boats traversing the northwest passage, at least three or four of them doing documentaries about climate change and interviewing residents along the way. I can’t speak for sea ice overall but in most of the remote communities over here, it was a late spring as well. Hopefully for the bears, this ‘anomaly’ continues...

POLAR BEAR NEWS AND STUFF

• Lunar Eclipse in February
• Manitoba Declares Polar Bear 'Threatened'
• US Delays Decision Polar Bear 'Threatened' Status
• Hudson Bay Quest 5 set to run March 29th
• $2.7 billion of Oil and Gas Leases in Chukchi
• Oldest Horseshoe Crab Discovered at Churchill
• Oldest Polar Bear Fossil Discovered
• Northern Lights THEMIS Project
• Polar Bears on the Brink? Don't Believe It!
• NASA Examines 2007 Arctic Sea Ice
• State of the Canadian Cryosphere