Yellowknife witnessed exploding aurora in the sky a couple of nights ago, creating some of the most dynamic and unique aurora borealis we have seen in a long time. These breathtaking video images taken by David Yau at Aurora Ninja Photo Tour show the majestic beauty of the northern lights in the north. Enjoy!
Amazing northern lights video from Lapland, Finland. Aurora borealis action in Churchill is off to a great start with some phenomenal northern lights sightings over the first couple of nights of the season. Stay posted for more to come as the season moves along. To view nightly northern lights video check out the Churchill northern lights cam at explore.org. Enjoy!
The highly anticipated northern lights season in Churchill is underway and off to a roaring start. Last night Natural Habitat Adventures guide Drew Hamilton and his group of travelers spent the evening out at Wapusk Adventures sled -dog yard with owner and musher Dave Daley. The area is set up nicely for an evening of aurora watching and photography.
Dave is an excellent educator on the history and care of the northern husky sled dogs. An evening with him conveying this and his love for his 40 plus dogs melded with the spectacular aurora borealis above is “enlightening”.to say the least.
These beautiful northern lights shots by Drew are just the start to what will hopefully eclipse the incredible season we had last year. Enjoy!
Tee pee and northern lights at Wapusk Adventures. Drew Hamilton photo.
Northern lights over the boreal forest at Wapusk Adventures in Churchill. Drew Hamilton photo.
Aurora borealis shining brightly over the Wapusk Adventures dog yard. Drew Hamilton photo.
Waves of northern lights paint the sky above Wapusk and the snowy boreal forest in Churchill. Drew Hamilton photo.
Profile of tee pee with the aurora shining brightly above the boreal forest. Drew Hamilton photo.
Tee pee at Wapusk Adventures in Churchill. Alex De Vries – Magnifico photo.
We hope to see many more like this classic northern lights image from Alex de Vries – Magnifico. This shot is from last season but the aurora is already heating up in Churchill as the season has just started. Can’t wait for the stories and photos to start rolling in …enjoy and stay tuned for more to come!
In our last posting from Jeff and Kathy Klofft, we have some of Jeff’s remarkable photos of a polar bear family trying to escape safely from a energized male polar bear hoping to get to mom to mate or possibly at the cubs for some sustenance. These interactions are fairly rare but pretty exciting when witnessed by travelers. You can see more of the Klofft’s adventures on their blog site Go See It Travel!
“We watched the sleepy family for a little while and then noticed a large male making his way towards their direction.”
Male polar bear starts to move towards mother and cubs. Jeff Klofft photo.
Our guides explained that a male polar bear can try to separate the mother from her cubs in order to mate with her. The cubs will surely not survive on their own without their mother, and their survival depends on her staying away from the big male. Unfortunately, she and the cubs were sleeping soundly as the male approached closer and closer, and all of us held our breath in dread of what we might see if he surprised them before they could hustle away.
Mother and cubs become aware and begin to move. Jeff Klofft photo.
Finally, as we all silently willed the mother bear to wake up and move on, she was up on her feet and she and her cubs were on the move even faster than Jeff’s rapid camera could catch it!
“So once she started to move, she and her cubs MOVED! Some in our group actually were able to hear her hiss at the big male. They ran towards our Polar Rover at top speed until she was right behind our viewing platform.”
Polar bears on the run to safety. Jeff Klofft photo
“Directly behind us, the female stopped to see where the big male was, and found him to be plodding along in her direction, so although she slowed her speed, she and her cubs continued moving off away from the larger bear.”
Mother polar bear on the lookout for aggressive male. Jeff Klofft photo.
The big male moved more slowly but quite deliberately in her direction, stopping along the way to sniff where she and the cubs had been.
Sniffing the family’s scent the male polar bear slowly tracks them. Jeff Klofft photo.
Once the big male had given up the chase, the polar bear family moved off toward the shore in a group. Jeff Klofft photo.
Male polar bear finally gives up the chase and heads for a rest in the willows. Jeff Klofft photo.
Another report from the kloffts adventure to Churchill with Natural Habitat Adventures this past fall. Check out their travel website at Go See It Travel for more photos and blogs about their travels!
All of us were anxious to see polar bears, but we weren’t spotting any on our first evening out. We did see the most incredible sunset on the tundra, and even though we were all a little disappointed, we couldn’t help but feel privileged and awed by the environment! We put our cameras away and enjoyed dinner set out in the rover on the dark tundra. Then just as we were getting ready to leave, someone spotted a mother bear and two very young cubs outside of the rover, walking right in front and beside the vehicle. Too dark to photograph, we could see their white fur glowing from the dim interior lights of our polar rover and just enjoyed the magical moment of seeing polar bears in the wild for the first time!
Polar bear family wanders the tundra in Churchill Wildlife Management Area. Jeff Klofft photo.
Polar bears nursing in the CWMA. Jeff Klofft photo.
Sleeping polar bear near the Hudson Bay coast. Jeff Klofft photo.
Polar bear yawning from a little stress. Jeff Klofft photo.
Reluctantly, it was time for us to start our journey back to the launch. The guides and drivers keep the schedule, even though we could have could stayed out on the tundra forever after the exciting bear sightings we had on Halloween! The trip back was not disappointing, enjoying the beautiful scenery,We enjoyed the rover ride through lakes and over rocks, and we even spotted some more wildlife!
Silver fox roams the tundra in Churchill. Jeff Klofft photo.
This trip with its focus on polar bear conservation, demands that we observe but not disturb, so sometimes the bears are at a long distance, and we must watch them from where we are. Of course, the bears have no such rules, and frequently, these smart, curious animals would see the rovers and want to do a little exploring themselves. That’s what happened in this case. A mother bear and what we later discovered was two female cubs were sleeping, but once we stopped about 1/2 mile away, one of the young cubs was curious and started making her way towards our rover and the others parked near us. She looked back at her more timid sister and slumbering mother, and seemed to be urging them to come explore with her. She started out and before long, her sister followed along behind. After they got a certain distance away, mamma bear heaved herself up and plodded along behind her curious off spring.
Pol;ar bear cubs approach the polar rover within a few feet. Jeff Klofft photo.
The family of bears walked the whole line of rovers prompting us to ask our driver and guide just how much they had paid the bears for the encounter! After a few minutes of curious sniffing the bears moved on providing us with incredible photo opportunities!
Polar bear cubs sniffing out the danger. Jeff Klofft photo.
Polar bear family moving to safety away from a male bear. Jeff Klofft photo.
