Polar bears appear quite often in the Summer months on the rocky point that juts out into the Hudson Bay just north of Fort prince of Wales. Eskimo Point is a rocky outcropping that used to be under water hundreds of years ago though now has risen out of the sea thanks to that ever continuous process of isostatic rebound.
Polar bear on the rocks, Churchill,MB.
With regularity bears have been spotted both inland and along the rocky outcroppings on Eskimo Point. Although a bonus for travelers seeking to get a look at the king of the Arctic, conservation officers need to keep on their toes for the sake of the town’s safety. Summer, in my opinion is a more dangerous time with respect to polar bear encounters than actual “bear season” in October and November. For many reasons bears are more dangerous in Summer…the main one being the element of surprise. Summer is a time when people tend to let their guard down. Many visitors to Churchill have been conditioned to believe that the Fall is the only time polar bears are in the area…not true. As ice melts, bears come on land. With temperature escalation decreasing time polar bears are able to hunt seals on ice, they tend to head for the next most bountiful habitat….Churchill. Not many visitors expect to come upon a polar bear while birding or observing wildflowers. It’s these distractions that can cause one to be at risk. (more…)
“We just arrived in Churchill today and from shore saw a beluga festival out near the edge of the bay along with Herring and Bonaparte gulls flying overhead indicating a feeding frenzy!” reported Sue Zajac this past week with her first Natural Habitat Arctic Summer group. Up North for another season of ever surprising wildlife encounters, Sue finds a way to uncover all the natural wonders this unique region has to offer. Assisted by local resident/guide Rhonda Reid, the pair have been scouring the tundra and Arctic waters to insure travelers leave no “Tern unstoned”…uh..rather “stone unturned. The former would not be good…those poor little guys have to fly a long way to get their capelin.
In the ponds adjacent to the grain silos the group viewed two -week old herring gull hatchlings nesting on a rock protected by surrounding water, as well as another pair of fledglings nearby. Lesser yellow legs and a female lesser scaup with seven chicks, short-billed dowitcher, red-necked phalarope and attacking Arctic terns suggesting a nest. A molting male greater scaup rounded out the birding extravaganza. The weather was windy and warm with a hint of rain. A background of grain dust filled the air as grain cars were unloaded to fill the towering elevators guarding the Churchill river. No grain container ships in port or on the horizon yet though a small barge left port, escorted by a tugboat. All eyes will be on the grain port this August through November to see how the lack of a grain commission affects the supply and demand of this inland seaport.
As Summer in the north progresses, wildflowers come and go like the tide. Fireweed, an everlasting sentinel, lines secluded dirt roads all throughout Churchill, Arctic avens, the initial sign of Spring have now mostly gone to seed as have many of the willows, hedysarum or Mackenzi sweet vetch, and purple Indian paintbrush color the tundra with shades of purple and red.
Hedysarum or Mackenzi sweet vetch…one of Churchill’s prize wildflowers.
Arrival in Churchill began with a visit down to the shore of the Hudson Bay near the inukshuk behind the town complex. After a long train excursion from Winnipeg, the travelers were content with settling into the northern pace and feeling the ground. The serenity of the Hudson Bay does this better than any other place.
Guide Sue and travelers walked the beach on the Hudson Bay.Photo Rhonda Reid
Day one in Churchill was an adventure out on the water aboard the Sea North 2, a 30 passenger viewing craft made to go around ice flows. The sea north gives people a view above the water and has a front and rear deck for photography. Although one cannot getas close to the beluga’s as you would aboard the zodiacs, this is made for getting clear more interesting photos. The boat is also used to transport the groups across river to fort Prince of Wales. The group made the trip and luckily was prepared with bug nets as the mosquitos were out in full force. when you experience a remote environment you have to take the good with the bad. This is not a zoo where the climate can be made to order. A taste of the real thing , even when annoying, can make the experience everlasting.
Sea North 2 on the Churchill River looking for belugas. Photo Rhonda Reid.
The next day the wind forced zodiacs to stay at the dock so the morning was spent out near goose Creek with Bill Calnan birding and story telling. Always different and interesting. After a visit to the iconic Eskimo museum the group just went with the flow out on the land exploring along the coast near Miss Piggy (an old plane wreck on the rocks above the coastal road) and the fossil beach below it at low tide. These spontaneous days in Churchill always seem to lead into something eventful. Serendipitous to say the least. Back on the outside of town, Conservation officers were dealing with a bear that had just come out of the water and was unwilling to be persuaded back in and along the coast. They chased the sub-adult male along the rocks all the way from the complex to Cape Merry …with cracker shells as a motivational tool. Meanwhile the group followed at a safe distance watching every move…amazing luck with the timing!
My favorite season in Churchill is not polar bear season. No…Winter would not be my next choice….although hailing from New England I do love the cold. Well, that’s not really “cold” compared to the Arctic. Summer in Churchill is unmatched anywhere in the world I have traveled to. Alaska is very close. I think the beauty is enhanced for me by spending close to 15 years of alternating seasons….both Fall polar bear season and Summer beluga whale season... within the same year. Experiencing different seasons bonds one with the land, water and people quite differently then only seeing the place during one particular time of year. If I had to choose a season…Summer would be the one!
Churchill Summer is spectacular. Photo-Steve Selden.
Over the years I passed up many opportunities to guide polar bear trips full time out on the tundra of the Churchill Wildlife Management Area for Natural Habitat Adventures … instead staying with the Churchill logistical team organizing everything from dog sled trips to personal photography tours to escorting hospital visits for over a thousand travelers per season. I am more of an outdoor naturalist and the Summer trips encompass more in terms of piecing together a complete ecosystem. Life becomes so intertwined out of necessity as the season to reproduce and gather energy is extremely short. October and November in Churchill are the busiest tourist months of the year as everyone wants to experience the realm of the polar bear. Get in, see a polar bear, get out is the mantra for many tourists yet they are missing a myriad of life buried beneath the snow and ice. That’s why many travelers return….in Summer.
Beluga whale in the Churchill River. Photo-Steve Selden
Just as polar bears are the star everyone comes to see in the Fall, beluga whales are the main focus of the Summer season. However, it’s a different feel in the Summer. Since so much time is spent hiking on the land, much more is taken in. Multifarious flowers..including various orchids..bird life, ground animals, geological formations and fossils, Boreal forest and of course the marine environment provides an outdoor classroom for all ages with diverse interests. Whales are the headliner…though the journey around the land between time out on the water reveals the true secrets of life in the Arctic. An incredible web of life continually links the present with the past in this timeless landscape. Researchers in numerous fields return to Churchill annually and set up at the Churchill Northern Studies Center to learn more about how every living and even non-living thing relies on another.
Spring and Summer birding is unmatched! Photo-Steve Selden
I’ve often said that the biggest kept secret about Churchill is the Summer season. I feel as if I’ve only scratched the surface of the tundra so to speak. The incredible array of life and history observed on a trip to Churchill in the summer will peak the interest of anyone. Twelve years or more have left me yearning to learn more.
Churchill, Manitoba will no longer add fluoride to its’ or beluga whales drinking water. A four year, four month campaign by Churchill No Fluoride led by resident activist Mark Brackley has culminated with victory for those dedicated to stopping the process of adding fluoride to the water supply once it is pumped from the Churchill River. Voters won majority in a plebiscite last October in favor of ending the fluoridation of the town’s water supply. However, small town politics are always sticky and the vote was put up for review by Mayor Mike Spence and city council. Apparently the council was searching for an alternative fluoride treatment process to replace the existing system. With pressure from Brackley and his constituents, the vote was finally ratified and unanimously approved last week by city council. A date of September 15, 2012 was set as the day when town water will be fluoride free.
Churchill CAO Albert Meijering said a fluoride rinse program will be installed in the local school and any resident will be able to take part in the program.
Flouridation of water supplies has been prolific since the 1950’s and 60’s worldwide as an effective way to prevent tooth decay. Only recently has strong opposition and lobbying gained enough force, backed by scientific evidence to convince local governments to cease adding the substance to drinking water in many locations. Opposition opinion against the process is based mainly on the fact that dosages of fluoride are not regulated. Simply put, the more water consumed, the more fluoride you take into your body. Churchill is a dry climate and water is consumed more often than many other towns. This makes the issue even more pressing here.
Most European countries have stopped water-fluoridation programs, including recent converts Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland. Other Canadian cities have stopped the fluoridation process prior to Churchill. Most recently Flin Flon stopped adding fluoride to its water supply at the end of July 2011 and Calgary stopped in May 2011. Winnipeg lowered its’ fluoride content from .85 milligrams per liter to .7 milligrams on recommendations from Health Canada and Manitoba Health. Brackley and his group will now focus their efforts on Winnipeg, assisting local activists there with hopes of removing fluoride from the provincial capital’s drinking water. The battle continues on.
Beluga whales in the Churchill River.
Before the final vote to end fluoridation was cast by Churchill town council, Brackley had planned to film a documentary this Summer on the affects of fluoride on the marine habitat…specifically how water runoff and discharge containing fluoride into the Churchill River could be harming the beluga whale population that fills the river and Hudson Bay each year. No significant research has been conducted in the far north where research dollars don’t go as far as Southern communities. Most likely that project will not need to happen now.
This past polar bear season provided a plethora of snowy owl sightings across the tundra in the Churchill region. Daily guide accounts from Natural Habitat Adventure trips in October and November reported many more encounters with the iconic Arctic bird than the last few years. Now, that abundance is revealing itself in the United States as far south as Colorado. In Boulder county, where I live and Natural Habitat Adventures is based, only two documented sightings are on record. This year, numerous sightings have been called in. One snowy was even sighted at the Honolulu airport in Hawaii..the first on record ever in that state. What is happening?
Colby Brokvist photo.
Arctic animals flourish with one basic necessity…food, and of course availability of that particular staple. Polar bears rely predominantly on ringed seals out on the ice surface, arctic fox tend to forage on hares and lemmings and snowy owls also bag the occasional arctic hare, though ..a higher percentage of their diet comes from lemmings. This past Summer, Churchill had a explosion in the lemming population which carried over into the Fall bear season. And since it’s utterly difficult and surely frustrating for polar bears to sneak up on those tiny lemmings, the snowy owl population increased as well. This has not happened for about five years. The last time was quite noticeable in Churchill…I can remember driving along the launch road just outside of town limits and seeing a snowy on just about every other hydro pole. Amazing.
Predators like the red fox have been forced to expand their hunting grounds.-Brad Josephs photo.
There have been years when Arctic fox have dominated the hunting grounds also…seemingly pushing out the red fox and the snowy owls at once. Red foxes have been spotted far out on the Hudson Bay ice floes in recent years adverse to their natural hunting grounds. Expanding their diet via leftover seal -kills has been a necessity for survival. There seems to be a natural process of selection in which lemming predators take precedence from season to season. This year clearly favors the snowy owl however and now that population is migrating farther South than ever before in search of lemming-like food. This “irruption” as the overwhelming presence of a species is known, is allowing “southerners” to view the majestic owl without heading all the way to the Arctic. Montana, Colorado, Hawaii…even Boston Massachusetts, where 21 owls have been documented near Logan International Airport have all become new territory for the endangered snowy owl. I actually have seen a couple over the years on Cape Cod, MA in the marshes but the press rarely covers that rural location.
These areas all make sense. The openness of the prairies and grasslands out West and the marshes and lakes of the coastal locations all tend to make the snowy owl feel right at home in a tundra -like landscape. Getting there is another issue. With higher temperatures and long flying distances, the birds arrive to the new feeding grounds very stressed and depleted of energy. If you do happen upon a snowy be cautious not to harass the bird by getting too close. Use a spotting scope or good binoculars to check it off your life list.If you are in Colorado use this link, cfobirds.org, to keep up with the latest sightings and bird information. Other states have similar links that are easy to find with a little research. Good luck spotting one of the most beautiful birds in the air….and on the ground…hunting lemmings and possibly prairie dogs.
With Churchill caught in a deep freeze, some things are just heating up in the sub -Arctic town along the Hudson Bay.
The minus 30 degree C days and nights of January have not dissuaded dog mushers from entering the 2012 Hudson Bay Quest which will run the 220 miles from Gillam to Churchill. This route has been modified from the original course, celebrating the rich trapper history of the region. All mushers are self -sufficient carrying all the supplies they need for themselves and their dogs to make it to the finish. The course generally takes from two to three days to complete depending largely on weather. the original course largely traced the coast of the Hudson Bay and quite often was incredibly challenging when storms hit the region. Logistical complications and a need to streamline the race lead to the new, though still challenging event. Below is a list of racers entered so far for this year’s quest.
Hudson Bay Quest 2012 – Racers Registered
Ed ‘The Sled’ Obrecht – Otter Lake, Quebec
David Daley – Churchill, Manitoba
Dan DiMuzio – Churchill, Manitoba
Troy Groenweld – Two Harbours, Minnesota
Charlie Lundie – Churchill, Manitoba
Stefaan De Marie – Christopher Lake, Saskatchewan
Peter McClelland – Ely, Minnesota
Ernest Azure – Churchill, Manitoba
Burton Penner – Vermillion Bay, Ontario
Shawn McCarty – Ely, Minnesota
John Makayak Hickes – Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
Jesse Terry – Sioux Lookout, Ontario
Barney Kalluak – Arviat, Nunavut
The Hudson Bay Quest’s official website sponsored by Calm air states that only 15 racers will be allowed to run their dogs so hurry up and get your application in! Future blogs will give more information as the race draws closer and updates from the race with results will be available when the mushers leave Gillam in March. Gee…Haw! Dave Daley, local Churchill musher will be running his dogs again this year and hoping to be the second consecutive champion from Churchill. Charlie Lundie won top prize last year.a first for any Churchill entrant.
Brad Josephs photo.
Although the Fall polar bear season did not allow for extensive sled training for the local mushers and their dogs, travelers still were able to get a feel for the energy that a team of these beautiful animals exudes. Many of the dedicated mushers in Churchill run seasonal businesses. These “off-season” ventures often are run with hopes to raise enough funds to cover extensive dog-food costs that easily reach tens of thousands of dollars. Local musher Kelly Turcotte -owner of Churchill River Mushing-utilized his custom built wheeled sled -carts to guide visitors over the landscape and through willows in order to give guests a feel for, not only dog racing, but dogsled touring. It truly is a unique way to enjoy the undulating tundra and taiga environment Even though Kelly does not enter the race himself, he does an excellent job of showcasing the total experience of dog mushing in the North. Daley and Lundie also cater to Churchill visitors by also giving their guests amazing insight into the exclusive world of the Northern mushers and the intricacies to raising premium Arctic sled dogs. It’s not as easy as one may think. Aside from all the discipline needed to train dogs under normal circumstances, the additional obstacle in Churchill is the weather. Current temperature in Churchill is -48 C…enough to make anyone howl!
