ARCTIC ARISTOCRATS

The largest land carnivore on earth, the polar bear, has some pretty impressive statistics. Females weigh in about 700 pounds but males can reach 1200 pounds and measure eleven feet from nose to tail. 

Polar bears are marine mammals that would normally only leave the ice to have their cubs, but the ice in Hudson Bay melts completely each summer forcing the bears to shore. They prowl and sleep in a sort of meditative state until the Bay freezes over in November. Eating next to nothing during their hiatus ashore, as soon as the ice forms the bears go off in search of seal, their favourite food.

A polar bear’s sense of smell is impressive, capable of sniffing out a seal den through three feet of snow and ice.

Observing polar bears while they are landlocked is a careful business. Approaching a bear has to be done in a particular way so as not to upset the bear while keeping the humans safe. Massive bear tracks in the mud were a stark reminder of the size and power of these beautiful creatures.

Our excursions out on the tundra involved lots of preparation. Layers of thermal clothing, rain pants, boots, gloves, hats and hoods.  We must have been a strange sight for the bear as we stepped forward tentatively in single file through mud, standing water, grasses and spindly bushes flanked by our fearless leader with his colleagues to the rear, all of whom carried deterrents including firearms in the event of an emergency.

Periodically we would stop to observe in silence.  The bear’s huge body is covered with thick, dense creamy fur.  Below its furry covering about four inches of blubber insulate the bear from the elements while we, despite our various layers, shivered as we waited patiently for an eye to open, a paw to flex or a head to rise.  Our patience was eventually rewarded.

On one occasion the bear awoke from its slumber, two coal black eyes appearing through the fur directed straight at us. A wide yawn followed, then an enormous stretch which extended from head to tail before our bear sauntering off along the Hudson Bay shoreline.

 

Polar bears are solitary figures at this time of the year.  Evident as we flew low over the tundra on the return flight to Churchill we counted numerous bears on the headland, none of whom appeared to be grouped together.  It was a sight though, their white bodies contrasted against the changing colours of the season often casting beautiful shadows on the stark landscape.  

Respite for the seal population, at least until the ice forms.