October and November, during polar bear season in Churchill, are the best months to see polar bears squaring off in mock fights. Churchillian’s know that nearly every month is polar bear season and really never let their guard down. During true polar bear season one of the main attractions is sparring usually by adult or sub-adult male polar bears preparing for the long winter on the Hudson Bay ice.
Polar bears sparring in the Churchill wildlife management Area. Brad Josephs photo.
When polar bears venture onto the ice in the Hudson Bay come late November they are prepared for potential confrontations with other bears over territory dominance of mating disputes. Sparring sessions in the Churchill wildlife Management Area and around the Hudson Bay Coast play an integral part in polar bear interactions and communication all year round. A dominance and respect is established through these fights and on the whole most bears know when to stop before serious injury is inflicted. There is also reason to believe the bears use the mock fights as a way to keep fit and alert for the long seal hunting season out on the pack ice.
You’ve heard the expression “Island time”. In fact you’ve probably uttered it once or twice yourself after experiencing the casual, slowed down lifestyle of people in places that seem to have figured out how to enjoy life…well at least vacation life…usually by the warm, blue water somewhere.
Sundogs in Churchill, Manitoba. Brad Josephs photo.
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Well “tundra time” is a similar lifestyle but perhaps comes from the opposite end of the weather comfort spectrum. Churchill and the rest of the northern Arctic region of Canada moves at a pace most southerners would call…um…slow. And that’ s being generous. Maybe because the north exists in a cryogenic state of frozen time for a good part of the year there’s really no energy to go fast at any point. Tundra time.
When visiting Churchill, everything moves slower. Restaurant service is slower..hence meals take longer. Vehicles move slower…especially Polar Rovers looking for slow, ambling polar bears. Maybe that’s the key…polar bears set the pace for everything around the area. They are in no hurry to go anywhere…except out on the ice. However, they can’t make the ice form so they instinctively know to take it easy….cause it’s “tundra time” mon!
Polar bear cooling off in Churchill, MB. Natural Habitat Adventures photo.
The train….ha..well anyone that has traveled with Via rail along the Hudson Bay Railway knows the literal definition of “tundra time”. The train tracks often turn a 36 hour trip into a 42 hour trip or more. Why? Because the tracks wind across the tundra that contains permafrost….icy ground. When that icy permafrost heats up and melts a bit, especially in summer, the tracks move slightly and a speeding train has to slow down so to not exert too much force on the steel rails and then end up on ..er..the tundra…stopped in the middle of nowhere. Tundra time.
Most of all the people in Churchill move slower. Churchillian’s by and large are not going far. Well, they can’t drive far as there are no roads out of town unless you want to go to the Churchill Northern Studies Center or a bit further out to Twin Lakes. People in Churchill actually have time to talk with one another, not email or telephone. They actually meet at Gypsy’s or the Seaport Hotel and sit and talk for sometimes hours and enjoy multiple cups of coffee. There’s a “local table” at Gypsy’s up front that is just for that…talking….slowly … and in person. Tundra time.
Nearly everything in the north operates on tundra time. We should all experience it once in awhile.
Exclusive video from the Arctic Ocean in Queen Maud Gulf shows Franklin expedition lost ship Erebus for the first time since the ship went down in the 1840’s. Sir John Franklin and his two ships, the Erebus and Terror, met their demise when they were trapped in ice in 1846 off King William Island near Nunavut according to Inuit legend. With hopes to find the Northwest Passage vanquished the surviving crew abandoned the ships and set out on foot pulling one of the life boats across the icy land. Stone marked graves of three of the ship-men were discovered earlier. This is the first tangible discovery since of the lost expedition.
Diving through the two-meter thick ice has proven to be very beneficial as the ice has eliminated any turbulence from waves above. This setting has allowed for clear water as silt has settled on the ocean floor.
The Erebus was discovered last summer though rough seas forced the crews to abandon the expedition until the ice provided the current ideal conditions. Searchers will continue the quest to find the Terror this summer.
Polar bears sparring in the willows. Colby Brokvist photo.
Whether sparring satisfies staying focused and fit for potential confrontations out on the Hudson Bay ice or displaying dominance for sows, the energy exhausted during the process is substantial. Some bears have not eaten for weeks or even months yet they answer the call to spar as part of their ability to survive within the population.
The Inuit meaning of inukshuk is “in the likeness of a human”. Used as a communication beacon in traditional times, these unworked stones compiled in rough human form signaled to others that someone had been there or that followers were on the right path. These landmarks also were built to mark a place of respect or as memorials for loved ones. Churchill has some impressive inukshuks around the area that travelers gravitate to and often photograph in daytime or with dynamic northern lights in the sky over the Hudson Bay.
Northern lights over the Hudson Bay behind the Inukshuk in Churchill. Sean Beckett photo.
Hunters utilize them by marking migration paths or near water where fish are plentiful. Sometimes in these cases, inuksuit are arranged in sequences over short or long distances to better signify the trail. Spiritual meanings have also been associated with these stone sculptures by Inuit peoples. These rock forms are of the oldest and most iconic objects bonding the Arctic with the Inuit people and culture of the north. Inuit tradition does not allow the destruction of inuksuit as they are often thought of as symbolizing ancestors that learned the ways of surviving on the land.
In a land of vast emptiness and barren landscape, a familiar inukshuk is a welcome sight to a traveler on a featureless and forbidding landscape.
An inukshuk can be small or large, a single rock, several rocks balanced on each other, round boulders or flat. Built from whatever stones are at hand, each one is unique. The arrangement of stones indicates the purpose of the marker. The directions of arms or legs could indicate the direction of an open channel for navigation, or a valley for passage through the mountains. An inukshuk without arms, or with antlers affixed to it, would act as a marker for a cache of food.
The Inukshuk was the basis of the 2010 Winter Olympics logo designed by Vancouver artist Elena Rivera MacGregor. The form also is featured as the centerpiece of the colorful flag of Nunuvut, the homeland of the Inuit.
