Derek in the Arctic - Tuesday

Last night at dinner we heard there was a bear about 400 meters away but from that distance, most things look like bears and most bears look like rocks. This AM she was a little closer and we could tell it was a bear. Just from the back of the lodge with a good telephoto you could see her. How cool to have a bear sleeping right behind us.

We had breakfast and then some very special guests talk to us. One of them was on a ship up in the Arctic Ocean using Skype to talk to us about ice and the changes he has seen. 15 years ago he conservativly estimated the arctic would be ice free by 2100. About 7 years ago he re-evaluted and estimated 2045. Then last year he had to re-evaluate it again because of the drastic changes up here, and he now says between 2013 and 2030 the arctic will not have any summer ice left. This is catastrophic for the bears. They have to have ice. It is their habitat!!!

Later in the day we went out looking for bears and found a large female back behind the lodge. She was amazing, curious but cautious. She must have thought "What are these strange things in that buggy?" She came over and investigated us and gave some amazing photo ops. We all took time out just to admire her and the environment she lives in. She is the first polar bear I have ever seen in their natural environment. I will never forget her and to add a little ambiance it started to snow.

Fall colors, snow and a polar bear: amazing.

She finally wandered off and came to visit us later at the lodge. She is currently sleeping between us and Hudson bay about 200 meters away. Around dinner tonight a little Scout came into camp and promptly took the spotlight away from our guest speakers. The Arctic Fox found dinner in a patch of willows as he flushed out some birds and caught one right out of the air.

It is getting late and our days are very full. I will try to send some photos. Enjoy D

Derek in the Arctic - Monday

Wow we are already in the north then we take another 3 hour plane ride to Churchill. We are experiencing all 4 seasons in less than an hour. Yes it was snowing for just a short bit. The fall colors are amazing. Deep reds and oranges and yellows.

We toured around town and got a history of Churchill which is amazing. A very exciting stop was to the local trappers, and they talked to us about life on the tundra and the fur trade. Really amazing people to survive off the land when it seems so barren. The Canadian government regulates the takes and will actually take away your "trap line" if you are not using it.

Our next stop was D20, the old army building where they hold the bears when they are too close to town or property and people. Very interesting and the game wardens (for lack of a better name) were really insightful about how the bears are and what they do as a job.

We then took the tundra buggy out to the lodge and got settled in for some well-deserved sleep. Sorry this is a bit truncated but breakfast is getting cold. I will try to get more up later.

Thanks,
Derek