The Polar Bears of Churchill, Manitoba

November, 2024 – the western edge of Hudson Bay.

These magnificent bears, with their large teeth and plate-sized paws sporting long, black claws, will rip you to shreds if you let them. And yet, during these months while the ice is beginning to form, they are more gentle than one can imagine. They are funny and goofy and adorable, too. The energy of these wild, white bears gets into your soul. They steal your heart. Their calm spirit lifts our own up into the ethers, up into the aurora borealis and into the magnetic, colorful sky.

Every year in October and November, on the western edge of the Hudson Bay, polar bears gather in large numbers to sleep, to cuddle and to spar with one another. Not having eaten in months, the bears are hungry.

They wait patiently for the ice to thicken and cover the bay. When the temperatures dip and the bay finally freezes, they quickly move out onto the ice to hunt for ringed seal.

Polar Bear’s necks are long, so they can reach through air holes in the ice (made by seals) and hopefully grab a meal. According to the National Institute of Health, a polar bears’ sense of smell is 2100 times greater than a human’s and 7 times better than a blood hound’s.

But until the bay freezes over, some time in December, the bears lie down and rest, walk around and play a lot.

One of these iconic, apex predators struts around as he sniffs something in the frigid air in front of him. His large, lumbering feet transport him across the snowy ground of the tundra in our direction. The enormous size of this cream-colored bear is thrilling to see in person. The male bear is only 100 yards out near the ice that is just beginning to form in asymmetrical clumps on the edges of the bay.  

At this time of year, polar bears must snack on whatever they can find … Here, the bear munches on kelp that he has just dragged up from the beach.

Red Kelp

The polar bear slowly saunters up to our vehicle. He is now only one foot away from us beneath the safety grates of the polar rover. We look down and he sniffs at our feet, unable to make physical contact. According to our naturalist guide, Eddy, this bear is taller than any he has seen this year, and so he warns us to stay back from the railing in case it stands up. The bear rises onto its two back feet to a standing position, and his big, black nose reaches almost to the railing.

The great white bear mesmerizes us. He lingers for quite some time, his curiosity or hunger getting the best of him. Finally, the bear gets bored, gives up on finding a meal and walks away. 

Peek-A-Bear

Below is the custom-built tundra lodge that has 30 small cabins, 3 viewing platforms, a lounge car with wood stove and a dining area and kitchen staff. It is a moveable lodge on wheels.

The female bears hide from the male bears at this time of year, so we do not see a lot of them. We watch the males play, spar and cuddle. The young, male bears are play-fighting to practice for when mating season comes in the spring.

Even as they play-fight, it strikes me how gentle they are with each other. A push, a shove and a bite never even breaks the skin. They give each other bear hugs. They fall down and tumble around…

It looks as if they really care for one another and, yes, love each other. If only humans could be like that. If only we could play-fight and not hurt each other. Maybe we should take a hint from these precious bears?

The three bears spar with one another for some time – a half-hour, maybe an hour. Then they get tired and need to rest. They haven’t had a meal in four months after all. They walk away and lie down.

Our group on the Tundra Lodge. Eddy is taking the shot and our other (awesome) trip leader is Giulia in the red coat, lower right. I learned so much about my photography from both of them on this trip. About how all the manual settings work with one another… I am no longer confused about certain settings, so it was very helpful!

One bear — my favorite — finds a stick to play with. He picks it up in his mouth, chews it and cuddles it in his arms.

Stick bear loves his stick!

Below, we watch as yet another bear sticks his head into a snow bank…

and then proceeds to give himself a snow bath.

Snow Bear!

According to the IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature), the current polar bear population around the world is somewhere between 22,000 and 31,000. It is difficult to track polar bears because of inherent dangers such as temperature and landscape being composed entirely of frigid cold tundra, harsh winds and ice pack. I imagine it is easier to track them in the summer time.

I looked into how many polar bears there might have been during the 1800s, but there seems to be little data except for one study of the years between 1800-1930. Research from one scientist (Honderich on polarbearscience.com) shows that up to 40,000 polar bears were hunted by whalers and Hudson’s Bay Company fur traders. That number is higher than the entire polar bear population that exists today. (Add to that the hundreds of thousands of other animals and birds the HBC was responsible for killing and it truly boggles the mind). Maybe they should have stuck to selling blankets 😦

According to the World Wildlife Fund, 60-80 percent of Polar Bears alive today live in Canada. But rising temperatures and melting sea ice are seriously threatening these bears. They need the ice to hunt seals. If the sea ice melts, they will starve. This apex predator cannot live on kelp and willow. It needs seal blubber to survive.

The IUCN lists the polar bear as ‘Vulnerable’ which is one step below Endangered.

We are not helpless. One thing we can do to help is join just one organization like the World Wildlife Fund, Polar Bears International or the Natural Resources Defense Council. We can also work on reducing our own carbon footprint and supporting environmental candidates for office at all levels.

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