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Bear Blog - Midnight Canoe - August 19, 2006
Just
back from a midnight canoe trip on our little lake. Beautiful
evening, northern lights to start it off and then a thick fog
rolled in for a spooky ending or just spooky enough anyway.
We
were heading over to a bonfire at our neighbours across the lake
but could not see it from the lake and were worried that they
would start shooting at us if we snuck up out of the willows (not
because they don't like us but just in case they thought we were
bears).
So
instead we paddled around our lake, or more fittingly pond. Anywhere
where there is permafrost, where the ground is frozen year round,
there is little to no drainage, so thousands of little ponds form.
Most of these, including our lake, are only two or three feet
deep at the most. They are home to mostly bugs and a fish called
a stickleback (that can freeze solid in the winter) and whatever
birds snack on bugs and stickleback. |
Polar
Bear Blog - Top Predator - August 17, 2006
This
is the summer of bear! I love it! They are all over the place.
We
have a couple friends up from Winnipeg for the weekend and after
an awesome supper of whitefish and wildrice, we headed out for
a walk to the Ithaca, our local shipwreck.
The
Ithaca ran aground in September 1960 and has been rusting away
ever since. Actually, it was probably rusting away for a time
before it ran aground but that is another story.
So,
you can walk out to the Ithaca at low-tide, a nice little stroll
on the tidal flats. However, I highly recommend carrying a gun
as polar bear often sleep in the hull on sunny days or wander
along the edge of the water.
Last
night, we had just returned from our walk, taking one last look
at the Ithaca before jumping into the truck. Just in time for
the sun to dip out of the clouds and highlight a lone polar bear
heading towards the shipwreck. The incredible thing was that he
was sniffing the ground and following our tracks almost to a tee,
even places where we doubled back to avoid tidal streams, he doubled
back in the hopes of a quick meal.
We
watched him meander all the way to the ship and then pace back
and forth trying to figure out where our scent or where his prey
ended up. We would have waited until he found our trail back to
the truck but tea and ginger snaps and the woodstove were waiting
back at Camp Nanuq.
I
have seen this before, as soon as the sun gets low enough in the
sky and the first chill of dusk sets in, polar bears begin to
stir and go for an evening stroll or hopefully an evening hunt.
Even if the wind is too strong for them to catch your scent or
even if they cannot actually see where you are, they are still
capable of finding your trail on the ground. Once they do, their
'Terminator'-like determination sets in and they will follow it
to the bitter end. |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Junk, Baby! - August 15, 2006
Well,
I have serious stuff to talk about soon but for now I am fresh
off a shopping excursion at Trapper John's Salvage Centre in bustling
downtown Churchill. And what a score it was today!
I've
got a strobe light! Yeah! Man, I have been waiting for twenty
five years to get a strobe light - ever since I saw my first KISS
blacklight velvet poster. Today, I am truly cool. Finally! Now
I'm going to cut the sleeves off my t-shirts and buy a sub-woofer.
What
else? A hard cover copy of Peter Newman's Company of Adventurers
for four bucks. A floodlight for added bear security. A giant
maul for supercharged wood splitting. And some Barbie stickers
for my girlfriend.
Trapper
John's is a neat place - pretty much just full of junk, John heads
south to auction sales, buys assorted assortments and ships them
up to Churchill. The coolest thing though is that his daughter
works there for the summer; she has long platinum blonde hair,
wraparound shades and always looks as though she is about to step
out of Churchill and into the L.A. scene. Just what every junk
store needs...a bit of Hollywood glitz! |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Home Again - August 14, 2006
Repulse
Bay, also called Naujaat, is just so incredibly awesome. If Churchill
is the accessible arctic, Repulse is accessible Greenland. And
finally my dream of crossing the Arctic Circle can be ticked off
my list... and seeing a narwhal... hmm, what's next...ah, yes,
running down the beach in slow motion with Pamela Anderson.
Anyway,
although it seems like it, life does not stop while you are exploring
the arctic. I got back home to find out that Milo had a huge fight
with a bear in my yard and Carmen came very very close to having
to shoot it. She shot five rounds into the gravel at its feet
before it moved a little bit, allowing Milo to get the advantage
and chase him off. Too bad I missed it because chicks with guns
are pretty hot.
Also,
it seems that after taking my folks out diving, someone forgot
(possibly me) to tether the boat to the shore. I guess we got
a pretty high tide while I was gone and my zodiac started floating
out into Hudson Bay until someone rescued it.
That
should be worth about one or two decades worth of teasing at the
Gypsy Bakery gossip table. |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Polar Bear DNA - August 10-11ish, 2006
Stayed
up too late again... but with Rocky Rockwell from the LaPerouse
Bay project and American Museum of Natural History and Polar Bear
DNA project and some conversations are just too cool to leave.
So I believe I will be packing for Repulse Bay at 6am tomorrow...sigh.
As
with all good gossip, I cannot really disclose any real truths
but this DNA project is going to rock the polar bear world for
whatever that is worth. It will change the way we think about
bear behaviour, about what they eat and about what they do - and
I am proud to say that I was here to help them start it up! With
both a shotgun and a shot glass. |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Narwhal Dive - August 10, 2006
No
I am not diving with narwhals but I am diving into Repulse Bay
without a plan, any real contacts in the community or any idea
of what the hell is going on.
Long
Island group left today (on possibly the worst day to fly since
2001) and I feel exhausted and light headed. It was a great trip
- pretty crazy but definitely the most memorable group of my eight
years in Churchill. Lots of fun! I'm sure I will see a few of
them again over the next few years... They were a real inspiration
to move from freelance guiding to leading and planning custom
tours of the Canadian arctic!
Now,
I am booked on a flight to Repulse Bay tomorrow morning on my
quest to see a narwhal. A narwhal is a lot like a beluga but the
males have a giant, pointy left tooth sticking 2-3 metres out
of their mouth. (Scientists believe they were the origin of the
Unicorn myth - as if there weren't real unicorns...)
So,
I may be out of touch for a while -but I have set up the blogger.com
site to accept email updates from the Arctic Circle. I don't know
if it will work or if there is email access in Repulse but try
clicking on www.polarbearalley.blogspot.com
to keep up over the next week
Also,
here is a link to a Harvard medical article about the Narwhal
tooth - I just found it online and in a crazy coincidence it has
some guy holding the Explorers Club flag - which is the group
I just left at the airport...spooky...
Narwhal's
tooth explained...we think |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Whale Dive - August 9, 2006
Another
excellent day of hiking with the group and then we headed back
to Camp Nanuq for arctic char and baked chicken not to mention
a few beverages and a bonfire.
The
highlight of my day, however, was taking a friend of mine out
on the Churchill River to go free diving. Free diving is just
diving without the air tanks.
Considering
this is my first year on the river with my own boat, I was...a
tad nervous. One dead diver, one major lawsuit, one Kelsey walking
west into the wilds of Manitoba never to be seen again.
But,
the weather turned out perfect, the whales were in a great spot
on the river with zero current, a nice mix of salt and fresh water
(it still glowed green as salt water does, but was much warmer
than swimming right in the tide itself) AND my boat motor started
80% of the time! (if anybody has a 30 HP four-stroke motor, let
me know...) So, hurray I am not on the run from the law today.
In
fact, I'm feeling pretty good. This chick has been diving for
nine years in a lot of places around the world. (she is a hardcore
diver and spearfisher, holding her breath for two or three minutes
at a time.) After swimming with a pod of 12 or 13 belugas, she
coulnd't stop talking about how it was absolutely the best experience
of her life. That's pretty cool. |
Polar
Bear Blog - Catching up - August 8, 2006
Still
am going to write about bears and the 'wolf attack' but very busy
with this tour and finishing up 'Confessions of a Buggy Driver'
which should be especially juicy considering Tundra Buggy just
fired me (again). It will be appearing in UpHere Magazine this
fall. In fact, it is just late enough that they are likely constructing
an artic voodoo doll of me as we speak... check out the magazine
at www.uphere.ca
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