Polar Bears are Cool

(Title courtesy of Polar Bears International!)

If you ever have a chance to visit Churchill, Manitoba between mid-October and mid-November, I would highly recommend it. It isn’t the easiest place to get to, but it is well worth the trip! We have just returned from the most amazing week of getting up close and personal with wild polar bears. It is an indescribable feeling coming face to face with a beautiful white 3m bear!


The train trip

Getting from Edmonton to Churchill is no quick journey. We flew from Edmonton to Winnipeg, then had a 50 hour or so train ride up to Churchill. There are flights that take this route, however they are only operated by small charter airlines and are ridiculously expensive, so we opted for the slow and cheap ground version. The train only covers just over 1,000km, which isn’t very far considering the time it takes for the trip – much of the track is twisted and warped and the train can only manage quite slow speeds. It also runs on country time – nothing is rushed, and pretty much the only guarantee about when you will arrive at your destination is that you won’t be early! When asked how we were going compared to schedule, our driver replied, “What schedule? We don’t run to a schedule on here, we get there when we get there!” On our way to Churchill, we spent about 3 hours stopped in a siding while we waited for a replacement driver to come along. By law the drivers are not allowed to work for more than 12 hours at a time, and our driver had clocked up his 12 hours. The replacement driver was supposed to meet us there, but due to a pay dispute decided not to turn up. We considered ourselves lucky that he did eventually come along – we have heard stories of other trips where the driver didn’t turn up at all, and the train had to wait 8 hours until the original driver had had his legally required break and could start driving again!



Being the cheapskates that we are, we opted for coach class rather than a sleeper carriage. This wasn’t the ideal choice, but given that the sleeper tickets were about 6 times what we paid for our seats, it was worth a bit of discomfort! Luckily the trains weren’t too full, so we managed to get 8 seats between the three of us (we travelled with Glenda Laws from NZ) on the way there. On the way back the train was even emptier, so we alternated between different seats and managed to take over about 14 of them! There is plenty of room, with decent amounts of leg space between each seat – much better than your typical commuter train. The Hudson Bay train which travels to Churchill is quite an old train though, so the seats aren’t the most comfortable, but we still managed to get some decent sleep (we had 4 nights on the train in total), and we didn’t regret our cost savings!

There is not much variation of scenery along the trip – the first 10 hours or so are wide stretches of farmland, with lots of canola and wheat. The rest of the trip is forest, with only a few small scattered townships along the track. At the time we were there, the autumn colours were out in full splendour, with the most amazing deep yellows for hours on end along the track, interspersed with frozen rivers and lakes. Unfortunately speeding along in a train (even one as slow as the Hudson Bay) doesn’t make for great photos!

Why Churchill?

Churchill is apparently the most accessible place in the world to view polar bears in their natural habitat. Despite the huge train trip, it is much easier to get to than most other polar bear habitats which are only accessible via helicopter and expensive equipment.

Churchill’s concentration of polar bears is due mostly to the shape and location of the bay (Hudson Bay) that the town sits on, combined with the winds and currents. During winter the whole Hudson Bay freezes over – this is a huge area of water, larger than the state of Texas. The bears head out onto the ice to hunt seals, spending the whole winter out there feeding. In late July the ice melts, and the bears have to head back to solid ground. Churchill is on a little shelf of land that sticks out into the bay, and due to the anti-clockwise currents and winds, much of the ice accumulates at this shelf, so many polar bears come to shore there. They head inland and south a little way, and spend the summer in semi-hibernation, sleeping for days at a time and moving as little as possible. Unlike most bears which hibernate in winter to avoid the cold, polar bears go into hibernation mode in summer to avoid the heat.

In early October, the bay slowly starts to freeze over again. The bears feel the change in the weather and head to the coast, hoping to find a feed. By this point they generally haven’t eaten since coming to shore in July (other than the occasional unlucky tourist!). The Churchill river prevents them from heading further north (they don’t like to get wet until they have started feeding again and have a thicker coat of blubber), so they congregate on the tundra around Churchill and wait for the bay to freeze over enough for them to venture out.

We visited at the start of the tourist season, so the bears were only just beginning to arrive. We saw seven different bears in total. We heard reports of people on a scenic helicopter flight having counted 200 bears in the nearby area heading towards Churchill, so in another week or two the area will be swarming. The total West Hudson Bay polar bear population is estimated at around 900-1,000.

One more interesting fact about polar bears – the breeding season is in May-June, while the bears are still out on the ice, but the embryo will not embed itself until around September-October. At this point the mother bear’s body decides if it has enough weight and is healthy enough to support a baby through the next few months. If so, the embryo will embed itself then. If not, it is passed out. After breeding the mother bears will not reach the ice again until around March, so the bear will go almost a full year without feeding.

Churchill township

There are about 1,000 permanent residents in Churchill. The town was originally created as a trading port (for the Hudson Bay Trading Company), then as a military training camp, and now relies almost entirely on tourism during the polar bear season. The population would more than double during the peak season.

Polar bears often roam the town during the peak season, and it is recommended not to venture out on your own in the early morning or at night. The town has a polar bear jail which is used for bears that are spending too much time in town or getting too aggressive!

We spent our first day wandering around town in about -17 degrees celcius (including wind chill), checking out the grand sights of Churchill.

Churchill tundra buggy tour – Day 1

We took a tour which is recommended as the best way of seeing polar bears in Churchill – on a ‘tundra buggy’. These are basically super sized vehicles with huge tractor tires and armoured sides, lifted well above the ground to prevent bears from climbing on top of them. Before the ground freezes over fully, they drive through slushy ice and snow, and cross semi-frozen lakes and streams. There are only two companies licensed to go out onto the tundra in these vehicles, so they charge a fortune, but pretty much guarantee that you will see polar bears.

On our first day we saw four different polar bears. The first two bears we saw were not particularly close, but we did see one cross two semi-frozen lakes (apparently a pretty rare sight), and one stand on its hind legs when it got a scent of something in the air.

The third bear we saw was enormous and much closer, but was lying on the ground asleep. Other than lifting its head every now and then, it didn’t look too promising. There were about 4 other tundra buggies there when we arrived, but one by one they headed off. We were the only vehicle left, and mostly only hung around because we were having a lunch stop. Just as we were about to head off, somebody spotted another bear in the distance heading towards us. It had obviously smelt the bigger bear, and was coming over to check it out. When it got quite close, it realised the first bear was much bigger and far superior, so it backed away and tried to get out of the area – only to find its path mostly blocked by slushy ice and deep snow.

Eventually the first bear lifted up its head and saw the second bear there. The second bear fled away at top speed (quite an amusing sight!), while the first bear slowly stood up, let out a few massive yawns, had a good stretch, went to the toilet (apparently also quite rare to see since they haven’t eaten in 3-4 months!), yawned a few more times, decided the other bear was too far away to be concerned with, then decided to check out this big white box nearby. He came right over and sniffed the side of our buggy, before slowly ambling off. Unfortunately we had to head back to the launch site to meet up with our bus back to town, so we couldn’t hang around for longer.

Churchill tundra buggy tour – Day 2

We had high standards for day 2, and didn’t really think we could see anything that would top our previous day’s experience. The first two bears we saw backed this up – both were a little way off in the distance, and not doing anything more exciting than lifting their heads now and again.

Finally after lunch we came across our big daddy of a bear from the previous day. He was being pretty lazy again, and the other two buggies that had been watching him for quite some time were heading off. Just as the second buggy was starting up to drive away, he hopped up and started lumbering over towards us. This time he walked right up to our vehicle, stood on his hind legs, and put his paws up on the side!

He did this a couple of times, then headed round to the back of the vehicle, where this is a little deck. Of course we all rushed out there too, armed with every camera possible! He was being really inquisitive and stood on his hind legs about 4 more times. It is incredible how big he was – his nose was hanging over the railing of the buggy, sitting right where our elbows had been leaning only moments before! We could easily have patted him on the head – even touched his nose, if we were feeling particularly suicidal! He looked so cute and cuddly and innocent, but we had to keep reminding ourselves that this was a bear who hadn’t eaten for about 3-4 months and wouldn’t hesitate to make a meal of us if he had the opportunity. Our driver kept informing us that if he managed to get hold of any part of your body or even your clothes, he would pull you over the edge in a matter of seconds – pretty good incentive to keep out of reach!

It was such an incredible feeling though. They are such huge, beautiful creatures, and being that close to one is a mind-blowing experience. When we returned to the launch site, Justin tried to jump up and reach the top of the railing where the bear had been resting his nose. Even with his highest jump, Justin was still about a foot away from reaching the top. It really shows how big the bear was!

On both days of the tours we were incredibly lucky – most of the other vehicles wouldn’t have had half the show that we did. It was definitely one of the highlights of our entire North American trip, and one of the most incredible things we have ever experienced in our lives!

More photos (yes, we took LOTS!) at http://picasaweb.google.com/canadianmport/ChurchillPolarBears02?authkey=Gv1sRgCLbg9KPinbXf7QE#