Tears For Belugas!

     Today was our “day off” from work in the field.  It started with a hiking tour with our bear monitor, Sheldon.  We rode on a school bus with a shot gun mounted in the front.  Wouldn’t that be something if the buses back home came equipped with a weapon?  Our tour started with a bouldering hike in search of the elusive polar bear.  Although we did see many beautiful bird species and ring neck seals, we have yet to find our bear.

     We have learned that some of the polar bears in Churchill become nuisance bears to the residence.  The stories told are terrifying!  As a result of the bear troubles, the residence have created a bear jail.  For example, if a bear is around a residence and cannot be deterred with a weapon, or continues to come around humans, it is tranquillized and sent to bear jail for the summer.  At first I thought this was cruel because there is no food provided in jail, but polar bears that come in off the ice for the summer, normally do not hunt for food.  They have reserved enough fat from the winter of hunting seals.  They are released from jail at the end of summer and can return to the ice.  Time in jail teaches the bears not to go to certain places and to stay away from people. 

     After an amazing morning of hiking, bird and seal watching, and bear hunting, we headed for a Zodiac raft to find beluga whales in the Hudson Bay and the Churchill River.  A Zodiac is a terrifying fast moving raft used by navy seals to complete maneuvers.  Our boat had been damaged by a polar bear and had a leak in one of the baffles.  While sitting on the back of the raft bouncing up and down wildly, I held a death grip on the passenger rope.  The boat continually filled with water… I was in a horrified state of shock. 

     We circled a few ice floes and studied their anatomy.  To my surprise and complete horror, the captain of the zodiac drove up onto a huge ice flow, and let us leave the boat and walk on the ice!  This is truly polar bear winter territory!  A curious ring seal kept his eye on us the entire time.  

       We shoved off from the large ice floe and headed for beluga whale territory.  I got tears in my eyes as the first beluga whale crested the surface of the water!  They are beautiful!  It didn’t take long for several curious belugas to start following our Zodiac.  The captain actually had to rev the motor a little to push the belugas away from the propeller. 

     Even though the polar bears have managed to elude us, I have fallen in love with the arctic and its beautifully varied ecosystems.  Thanks for following me!  Here are some belugas for you!