The main food source in Churchill and surrounding estuaries in the Arctic summer is capelin. What is capelin you might ask? A small fish slightly larger in size though similar in appearance to smelt. Capelin will amass in schools of thousands and move through the water in a massive wave. Beluga whales periodically feed during the capelin run and will focus solely on the process until they are sufficiently sated. When belugas are feeding as a pod they will be completely synchronized in the water and oblivious to any whale watching vessels. Birds such as Arctic terns and Bonaparte gulls are tell tale harbingers of beluga feeding sessions as they hover overhead and dive to capture the fish pushed to the water’s surface. Once feeding time is over belugas will typically return to their curious, gregarious ways and approach boats or kayaks on the water.
Capelin schools are the most plentiful food source that belugas can feed on. The whales also scavenge mollusks and singular organisms in the water but to survive the energy constraints of frigid Arctic waters and stress of navigating ice and shoals, the mass feedings on thousands of capelin ease the strain of the harsh northern conditions.
Beluga whales feeding on capelin in the clear, cold water of the mouth of the Churchill River. Steve Selden photo.
Capelin spawn on the gravelly bottoms of shoreline and rivers close to tide-lines and many typically end up stranded along coastal beaches. During the apex of the fish run beaches can be covered with the small species.
The first grizzly bear possibly ever seen in Churchill was spotted just outside the Churchill Northern Studies Center last Thursday in the late evening. A group of residents entered the center and alerted the staff that they just saw a grizzly bear outside. A group of high school students staying at the center from Sisler High in Winnipeg and some staff rushed out to a second floor observation deck and shot this video. Assistant director of the center Heidi den Haan snapped a few photos of the bear before he wandered off.
“There’s very, very few sightings in the park. But to actually have one here? And to have everybody see it? That’s very, very rare for sure,” den Haan said. “We have polar bears coming around the centre all the time. We’re right on Hudson Bay. But grizzlies? There’s just this one. Oh yeah, this is definitely singular. The kids are extremely lucky to have witnessed it,” den Haan said.
Barren ground grizzly spotted near the Churchill Northern Studies Center. Heidi den Haan / CSNC photo.
The sighting comes just weeks after researchers in Wapusk National Park, known for its polar bear denning area, circulated photographs of grizzly and black bears roaming the tundra. The park is 100 kilometers southeast of Churchill. The researchers believe the bear spotted in Churchill and brown bears out in the park are barren ground grizzlies. These grizzly bears are a little smaller then Rocky Mountain grizzlies. They are also considered more aggressive. Omnivorous in their feeding habits these bears hunt caribou, ground squirrels, eat berries and scavenge carrion.
Grizzly bear outside the Churchill Northern Studies Center. Heidi den Haan/ CSNC photo.
There have been reports of barren ground grizzlies mating with polar bears. Offspring from this hybrid match are called grolar or pizzly bears and sightings are extremely rare with the only reported sightings coming from the western high Arctic.
Stephen Atkinson, a biologist working with Nunuvut and Northwest Territory governments speaks to the unique overlap of boreal forest and tundra terrain in the Churchill region. This incredible blending of ecosystems allows one the possibility of seeing grizzly, polar and black bears all in one day or at least one visit to Churchill. ” There’s nowhere else in the world you can see that, it’s an opportunity to see all three species of bear,” said Atkinson.
Seals, particularly ringed and bearded seals, don’t care too much about the polar bear’s plight of reduced sea ice. True, seals need the ice – pack and ice – floes to build their dens to birth and raise their young. However, they would not mind one bit if there were no polar bears around to stalk them in their blowholes and crash through their dens on the ice in order to devour their young and occasionally adults as well. No, as far as seals think, polar bears could disappear all-together and they wouldn’t have to keep one eye open constantly while they are dozing on the ice in between dives below the surface.
What seals don’t know is they also need to worry about global warming and reduced sea ice in the Hudson Bay and other far northern Arctic regions. Without the ice surface there would be nowhere to build their dens and rear their young near accessible food sources in the ocean. Well, who knows, maybe they do know this and we’re not giving them enough credit. Anyway, the end result is, without sea ice, polar bears cannot hunt their staple prey of seals and seals cannot rear their young pups that are eaten by polar bears. The complex web of life.
Polar bear with a seal kill. Rinie Van Meurs photo.
Polar bears also take adult seals by getting the scent from a distant blowhole utilized by seals to surface periodically. Seals form these access holes in the fall when the ice is softer and less thick. They maintain them throughout the colder months by constantly surfacing and descending in order to prevent ice layers from forming in the hole. Polar bears get very low as they approach the hole and sometimes even dive in to snatch the seal with their sharp, agile claws. When a bear emerges with the kill, they will often share with other polar bears that approach very timidly while nudging the hunter with their noses asking in a way to partake in the meal.
Polar bears gather to feed on a beached whale carcass. Daniel Cox/Natural Exposures photo.
Polar bears are opportunists. In essence they have the ability to find alternative food sources when needed if seals are unavailable. In recent years polar bears have been observed seemingly more active on land or in shallow coastal water hunting seals and beluga or other whales. Scientists wonder if this is a reaction to the shorter sea – ice season. Are polar bears adapting to changing climate conditions?
Only time will tell with regards to the polar bear’s ability to adapt to changing climate and ice conditions resulting from global warming. Seals will have to adapt as well in order to survive and propagate their species. Also, just maybe humans, the wildcard in the equation, can reduce carbon emissions to reverse the trends we are seeing now in the Arctic!
April is sea-ice melt month in traditionally ice-covered Arctic waters and regions in the north. Since satellite measurements began in 1979, this past April was recorded as the second-lowest level. Data shows that multi-year thicker ice also is declining. Second and third-year ice declined by 30% and 10% respectively. Data was compiled by the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, CO.
Sea-ice coverage has become the harbinger of the global warming issue and often portrayed as evidence that the situation in the Arctic is foreshadowing the coming serious repercussions of carbon emissions and human-caused pollution. The polar bear population in the Hudson Bay region will see direct affects from continued sea-ice melting and earlier thawing. Conservation groups such as World Wildlife Fund and Polar Bears International are working tirelessly to create awareness and action movements to recognize and implement ways to curb carbon emissions and control global warming.
This view of the trip from The Pas to Churchill on the Hudson Bay Railroad gives a feeling of heading north through uncharted territory to the frontier town of Churchill. The town is accessible only by rail and air since no roads exist over the permafrost. Venturing by train allows one to feel isolated in a way explorers might have felt as they trekked north. I have taken this rail journey many times and it never was the same and always was an exciting feeling to board in Winnipeg and see the transition in topography and environment heading to Churchill. With Churchill’s Arctic summer coming, travelers will be filling the rail cars and heading north to see incredible wildlife of the Churchill region!
