These polar bear mother and cub(s) shots are a great way to start the week. With Churchill Arctic summer season coming fast, it’s a nice way to look back or even ahead to October and November when the bears will congregate around the Churchill region. Of course summer always presents opportunities to come across polar bears arriving early in the area. Guiding many Churchill summer seasons, I had the opportunity to interact with bears on the tundra and coastline at the most unexpected times. These thrills will be with me for a lifetime. Enjoy these images from Churchill!
Mother and cub in Churchill. Brad Josephs photo.
Polar bear mom and cubs on the Hudson Bay. Natural Habitat Adventures photo.
Mother and cub polar bear. Natural Habitat Adventures photo.
This photo of sandhill cranes and a Canada geese by Rhonda Reid is another sign that Churchill’s Arctic summer is just around the corner. Birds are arriving in Churchill and wildflowers will start flowering over the next few months. beluga whales will start arriving in the Hudson Bay and Churchill River and maybe even a few bears. Enjoy the spring and this cool photo!
Sandhill cranes and Canada geese. Rhonda Reid photo.
Bill Ayotte (left) received the Star of Courage from Governor General David Johnston for his bravery in saving Erin Greene from a polar bear in Churchill in 2013. Mia Rabson /Winnipeg Free Press photo.
Bill Ayotte, the Churchill hero who saved the life of Erin Greene from a polar bear attack in 2013 received the Star of Courage last week.
Ayotte, 71, accepted the Star of Courage in a ceremony in recognition of acts of bravery and heroism from Canadians across the country. The Star of Courage, the country’s second-highest medal for bravery, recognizes people for “acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril.”
36 other Canadians who were receiving the Medal of Bravery for heroismn on that day, including saving someone from drowning, rescuing a woman being stabbed or pulling people from burning buildings. Johnston spent a few extra moments speaking to Ayotte after awarding him the medal and shared some laughs. “This is quite an honor, that’s for sure,” said Ayotte.
Ayotte along with his wife, Kathleen Bouvier, have resided in Churchill, Man., all their lives never had a close encounter with a polar bear before November 1, 2013. That all changed early that morning at 5 a.m. When Ayotte went outside on his porch after hearing screams, he focused on a polar bear with Ms. Greene in her mouth being flung around violently.
“The bear had a woman in his mouth and was shaking her around,” Ayotte said.
Realizing it would be too late unless he acted quickly, Ayotte grabbed a shovel and slammed it into the bears eye area.
“I thought, ‘If I’m going to save her, I have to do it now,'” he said. “So I ran over towards her and the bear and I wound up as hard as I could.”
The bear dropped the 30 year – old Greene and she fled into Ayotte’s home. Ayotte tried to flee inside as well but the caught him within seconds.
“He grabbed my leg and hauled me back and started wailing on me,” said Ayotte.
Ayotte’s neighbor, Didier Foubert-Allen, fired a shotgun at the bear though the bear seemed not to notice. It wasn’t until Foubert-Allen jumped in his truck, drove right up to the bear and began honking and flashing his lights that the bear finally seemed spooked and released Ayotte and ran down the street. The bear was later killed by conservation officers.
Ayotte was seriously hurt with wounds to his head, stomach and legs and back. The bear had torn off most of his right ear.
“I remember being cold,” he said. “Really, really cold. I thought I was going to die. I said to the people, get me off the ground, get me on my feet so I can die like a man.” He was taken to the hospital and later medivacced to Winnipeg along with Greene.
Greene keeps in touch with the couple though she has left Churchill . She sent Ayotte a little angel figurine as a gift and joined the couple for a reunion dinner on a visit back to Churchill. She had dinner with them on a return visit.
RCMP officers in Resolute Bay, Nunavut report that two Dutch explorers; Marc Cornelissen and Philip de Roo are missing and presumed drowned. The experienced polar researchers and explorers were on a two-month study of the sea ice conditions in the Arctic for an organization called Cold Facts.
Marc Cornelissen and Philip de Roo went missing close to Bathurst Island the end of a two-month scientific study of sea ice conditions. Coldfacts.org image.
The pair were exploring and conducting sea ice research when a distress signal was set off near Bathurst Island and a chartered aircraft flew to the signal point. Equipment was spotted on the ice surface but no trace of the men who had been on skis. Subsequent searchers found a dog and sled next to a large hole in the ice and another sled in the water. Other personal expedition items were also in the water.
Throughout their trek, the scientists was regularly updating a website set up for the expedition. Tuesday’s post stated that due to extremely warm temperatures the ice was thin where they were heading.
A final voice recording posted online Tuesday by Cornelissen said: “Today was a good day.” describing the weather as surprisingly warm, “too warm actually,” saying that he ended up skiing in only his underwear and boots.
“We think we see thin ice in front of us, which is quite interesting,” Cornelissen said. “And we’re going to research some more of that if we can.”
The missing researchers disappeared near Bathurst Island, 200 kilometres north of Resolute, Nunavut, itself about 1,500 kilometres north of Iqaluit and nearly 2,000 kilometres north of Churchill, MB. CBC Image.
Due to the global warming, extensive research surrounding Arctic sea ice has been on the rise. The researchers may have fallen victim to the very phenomena and reason for which they had traveled to the Arctic. Global warming has affected reduced sea ice, weather patterns as well as concern for the iconic symbol of the north itself the polar bear!
Here are a couple of BBC videos showing the skill polar bears learn and teach their young while seal hunting out on the Hudson Bay pack ice near Churchill. One in ten attempts to catch a seal in a snow den is successful. Polar bears are indeed both patient and persevering in their will to sustain their bodies over a cold and desolate winter on the ice. Enjoy these two videos from the far north!
Anyone that has worked in Churchill over the years has heard of Nestor 2 goose camp. And, if you’ve traveled to Churchill to see the incredible wildlife within the last 20 years you have seen and most likely heard the plight of the snow geese population. Snow geese have been prevalent out on the tundra and mostly out east near Cape Churchill at La Perouse Bay for decades.
Map showing the Hudson Bay coastline around Churchill and location of La Perouse Bay. United States Geological Survey image.
About 40km down east from Churchill on an island in the Mast River lies a few rustic cabin structures with wire fencing around them known as Nestor 2. The iconic 40 year-old bird research camp also known over the years as Camp Finney, Queens University Tundra Biology Station and the Snow Goose Camp has a storied history that continues to this day.
In 1968 Fred Cooke and Ken Ross journeyed to Churchill with a grant from the Canadian Wildlife Service to study a newly discovered snow goose colony around La Perouse Bay and decided this location would be ideal for long term research of the birds.
Researchers at Nestor 2 round up snow geese for banding in 2005. Left to right: E. Horrigan (graduate student), G. Jackman, Rocky Rockwell. Parks Canada photo.
An initial cabin dwelling some distance from the study area at Knight’s Hill Esker was abandoned and graduate student George Finney, project supervisor, decided a camp nearer the study site was needed. With tremendous assistance from Dave Yetman and Lindy Lee at the Fort Churchill Rocket Range, two trailers and a prefabricated cabin were dragged along the ice on a track vehicle in May before the break-up occurred.
Original Camp Finney building and trailors being moved to La Perouse Bay. George Finney photo.
“Camp Finney” now became the research station for the prolific snow goose camp. A typical season to this day has workers arriving in late April and staying through late July to band numerous flightless geese. Extended daylight hours enable researchers to work long days.
Camp “Finney” as it stood in 1976. Parks Canada photo.
By the mid 1970’s and 1980’s Nestor 2 had expanded in scope and studies of other sub-Arctic bird species was becoming internationally respected in the science world. Films by CBC, BBC, and Television Francaise focused on the work being done there. The snow geese research was cited internationally as the largest avian population study and garnered many awards.
Focus of the camp has transitioned immensely since those early days of a rare snow goose outpost. With annual geese numbers rising steadily between 5% and 10%, environmental damage began to occur. The salt marsh area known as La Perouse Bay became ravaged by the geese which then had repercussions on other wildlife species in the area. Research soon became more focused on the plight of the destruction zone and how snow geese should be managed. Professor Bob Jefferies from the University of Toronto led this new path in research until he passed away in 2010. Dr. Rocky Rockwell from the American Museum of Natural History, who had taken over for Fred Cooke in 1992, took over complete leadership at that point. Focus has shifted even more these days with the inclusion of the affects of global climate change on the interaction of species.
Snow geese culls over the last decade or so have done little to reduce the population numbers. However, Churchill numbers around La Perouse Bay are down considerably since vegetation essential to gosling rearing is gone. Wapusk National Park still hosts large snow geese colonies today.
This 1999 photo of Dr. Rocky Rockwell with a vegetation exclosure that protects from feeding snow geese. The problem was in the early stages then. Grand Forks Herald photo.
For more in depth study of the La Perouse Snow Geese research you can read,“The Snow Geese of La Perouse Bay: Natural Selection in the Wild by Rocky Rockwell, Fred Cooke and David B. Lank.
