Polar Bears Gruenberg

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Visit with the Great White Bear: Nanook

by R.M. Gruenberg, Connecticut Audubon Traveler

The tundra buggy erupted with shouts and clapping. It was an extraordinary sight: a huge beautiful animal weighing over a thousand pounds, in his playful sparring with his equally huge adversary. The two male polar bears standing face to face continued their mauling of each other, wide jaws agape as they batted away with massive heads and enormous paws.

Was this the high point of our seven-day trip to Churchill on Canada’s Hudson Bay, Polar Bear Capital of the World? Actually, there were so many high points, we were hard put to pick out a favorite. Probably each of the 14 participants of this Connecticut Audubon “expedition” to the frozen tundra in November last year, had his or her special moment.

It was a somewhat unfavorable start. Our aircraft aborted takeoff in Hartford, then after taking to the air on the second try, arrived so late in Toronto that we missed our connection to Winnipeg. Air Canada did its best to right the error; our group being placed in first class for the next flight to Winnipeg with one lucky traveller ending up on the jump seat in the pilot’s cabin, and on time to make the connecting flight to Churchill. All’s well that ends well, and after a more than 18-hour day of travelling, we ended up in fine accommodations in midtown Churchill. Of course, in a town of just over a thousand, midtown is downtown and uptown too.

We started out early the next morning for the tundra with uncertain hopes. Would we glimpse the magnificent animals we had come so far to see? Would the famed Hudson Bay be completely frozen (the temperature was -14 degrees C) allowing the bears, hungry from months of fasting on land, access to the sea ice and their quarry the seals, and thus putting them out of our sight? Our tour leader, Patrick Rousseau, gave us an in-depth lecture on the life history of the polar bear as he negotiated the 15-mile trip in our school-bus transportation to the tundra buggy. With over 25 years of experience as a Park Warden for the Canadian National Park Service, Pat shared a wealth of knowledge with us on the land, its people and animals as well as regaling us with personal experiences and a droll sense of humor. On our way, Andy Griswold, our Audubon leader and birding expert, kept his eyes on the landscape ahead for any possible birds. Along with polar bears it was the fervent wish of the birders among us to sight a snowy owl. The bird population in Churchill in the winter is pretty slim, but surely we would get to see that beautiful bird in its home range.

The tundra buggy is an impressive, efficient motor machine which navigates the uneven frozen tundra on six-foot tall, deeply treaded agriculture tires. Ours would accommodate 30 persons but was reserved for our relatively small group so we had plenty of window space for everyone. Our driver and guide, Bob Luykx, continued our education on polar bears, Hudson Bay and the tundra as he deftly swung the vehicle around and through the deepest potholes one could ever get to see. Suddenly, our first bears were sighted and Bob skillfully maneuvered into camera range. The excitement was unbounded, windows pushed open and cameras clicked. This scene was repeated again and again throughout the day: males play-fighting, three sets of a female with cub, sprite-like arctic foxes purposefully hunting lemmings, a flock of five exquisite rock ptarmigan. Enthusiastically, we continued to add to our total of sightings. Our official scorekeeper claimed 30 bear sightings. Others said 23. There was much joshing about counting the same bear twice in different locations. It didn’t matter. We were flushed with success. We had seen polar bears in action, had watched behavior for minutes on end, not just fleeting glimpses, and had taken, if not our fill of closeups, enough shots to put a serious dent into film supplies. The consensus was that whatever happened the next few days, this first day had more than fulfilled our expectations, and if we saw nothing else, we could leave Churchill well-satisfied. But there was more to come in the days ahead including a stunning never-to-be-forgotten sight of the Northern Lights over the frigid still night of the tundra .

One experiences a sort of epiphany out on the tundra, the 360 degree view, the ice on the Bay extending to the horizon, the sky and earth meeting in a beautiful silver line that goes round and round. The stillness. The sense that this piece of earth has been here forever. It was a trip to remember.