by Steve Selden | Nov 16, 2014 | Churchill Photography
Roaming polar bear on the tundra. Melissa Scott photo.
Polar bear season is coming to a close but the superb photos keep arriving from Natural Habitat guides in Churchill, Manitoba. These four pictures from longtime guide Melissa Scott represent an amazing season that started fast and has continued strong. The Hudson Bay is starting to freeze up and polar bears are testing the ice. In another two weeks most bears will be on the ice hunting seals and the aurora borealis season will start in Churchill. If it’s anything like this fall polar bear season, it will be a great one!
Sparring polar bears in Churchill Wildlife Management Area. Melissa Scott photo.
Polar bear in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. Melissa Scott photo.
Polar bears emerging from the willows in the CWMA. Melissa Scott photo.
by Steve Selden | Nov 14, 2014 | Churchill Photography
Another amazing Tundra Lodge photo trip this past week with Natural Habitat guides Rinnie and Colby provided ample photography chances for ecstatic travelers. Polar bear season is in full thrust with Arctic weather setting up a winteresque transition into the season’s final two weeks. Although the frigid cold has accompanied the snow and once again cast the annual doubt on how the season will conclude before the Hudson Bay freezes over, nobody seems to want these beautiful bears to vanish just yet.
Polar bear resting in a snowbank. Colby Brokvist photo.
The adventurous start of the journey included getting delayed by a blizzard before charter pilots capably landed in Churchill through a “weather window”. “We arrived to the remote tundra lodge in full whiteout conditions, which really means we got to truly taste what arctic conditions are all about. In the morning we awoke to crisp blue skies, fresh snow, and a big male bear sleeping right outside the window of some of the guest bedrooms. Their first bear was right from their bedroom window!,” reported Colby.
Inquisitive polar bear inspects the Tundra Lodge. Colby Brokvist photo.
Polar bears get hot and heavy on the tundra. Colby Brokvist photo.
Sunset over the tundra in Churchill,MB. Colby Brokvist photo.
A polar bear greets Natural Habitat travelers at the Tundra Lodge after the previous day blizzard.
Over the next four days of shooting photos, mostly blue skies prevailed, so very rare during bear season, which was a pleasure for photography. Highlights included many sparring bears right at the lodge, several sets of sows with cubs, a couple of charismatic young female bears, and incredible opportunities for colorful landscape shots.
Aurora in the night sky at the Tundra Lodge. Colby Brokvist photo.
If that wasn’t enough, two of the nights the aurora borealis was dancing within openings in the cloudy night skies. What a trip out on the Tundra lodge!
Join us on the trip of a life time to photograph polar bears and the northern lights!
by Steve Selden | Nov 13, 2014 | Conservation
Churchill, Manitoba is home to the king of the Arctic, polar bears, this time of year for many reasons though weather surely tops the list. You see, polar bears actually love the cold, snowy environment that slowly melds the surrounding tundra into the waters of the Hudson Bay forming a seemingly continuous icy landscape. When this happens, Ursus Maritimus walks out onto the bay and disappears into the white in search of sustenance for survival.
The two-month long period in between is intense and somewhat unpredictable thus the reason for so many travelers making the annual pilgrimage to Churchill, Manitoba.
Here are some recent photographs from Churchill submitted by Natural Habitat guides from their daily treks to the Churchill Wildlife Management Area…a polar bear waiting area for true winter in the north.
Polar bear dance…sparring. Brad Josephs photo.
A sun dog casting its’ rays on an inukshuk. Brad Josephs photo.
Natural Habitat travelers photographing a polar bear from their polar rover. Karen Walker photo.
A polar bear sow with its’ cub of the year. Sean Beckett photo.
Natural Habitat polar bear guide Moire Le Patourel with polar bear tracks. Eric Rock photo.
Come see the land of the polar bear with Natural Habitat Adventures! Visit nathab.com today.
by Steve Selden | Oct 14, 2014 | Churchill News
As most of us slowly ease into the fall season and notice the changing colors on the deciduous trees in North America, Churchill,MB has already been greeted with a coating of early winter snow. Cool temperatures forecast for the next several days are a great start to the season and a harbinger of a long, cold winter on the shores of the Hudson Bay. Hopefully another long season for polar bears out on the Hudson Bay ice pack for ample seal hunting.
First snowy night in Churchill,MB. Katie DeMeulles photo.
As the current polar bear season gets into gear, with the first Natural Habitat group out on the tundra lodge, many more eager travelers await their upcoming charter flight from Winnipeg to Churchill and a chance to see what we feel is the worlds most majestic and intriguing animal on the planet…the mighty polar bear.
Here are some past polar bear photo’s to get you all excited about new images and video coming in the next month and a half of exciting trips to the Churchill Wildlife Management Area and the surrounding region of Churchill,MB. Enjoy and keep tuned in to churchillpolarbears.org to get updates on all the news from the north.
Polar bear sow and cub on the precambrian shield.
Up close and personal with a polar bear.
Sparring polar bears in the CWMA. Rick Pepin photo.
A polar bear relaxes and cools in the snow. Colby Brokvist photo.
by Steve Selden | Sep 9, 2014 | Churchill News
Not many beluga whales were seen in the Hudson Bay just past the mouth of the Churchill River last Tuesday. However the Churchill River was packed with the mottled white whales at at time of year when numbers of the mammal are starting to dwindle in the estuary. Something that I never saw in 10 years of guiding Churchill Summer trips came up from the depths and into view. A pod of congregation of orca whales, a pretty rare sight around Churchill, patrolled the Hudson Bay and to the west in Button Bay. Sea North Tour;s owner and operator Dwight Allen and his son were out on the water in order to capture these thrilling photographs.
“We were probably out there for a good 20 minutes before we saw something,” Remi said Thursday. After reaching a distance of almost a mile out from the mouth of the Churchill River, Dwight spotted dorsal fins in some pretty big swells.
Unable to swim safely in the more shallow estuary of the Churchill River, the orcas will stay out in the deeper Hudson Bay waters. Allen knew before they they left the river that orcas were out there. The beluga population is usually pretty thinned out by this time of year. However on Tuesday, Belugas jammed the cut in the mouth of the river in shallower water where the Churchill River meets the bay.
“They know that was the safe haven there,” Allen said. “As we made our way out, there were all these belugas coming up. They were all packed in there. Get out in the bay and not a trace of them.”
Allen guessed around 11 killer whales were out in the bay, a pod of a full-sized male (bull), females, smaller adults and calves. One of the younger whales came up above the surface just a few feet from the Sea North Tours zodiac.
“They showed absolutely no fear towards us at all,” Allen said.
“As long as I matched their speed, they didn’t care if I was in the middle of their pod. They were surfacing all around us.”
Due to the reduction of Arctic sea ice killer whales are able to find waters farther north to feed in. their fragile dorsal fins are less at risk due to more ice -free days in the Hudson Bay. Hence, the chances to sight them have increased. It still is sort of like searching for a needle in a haystack as they come and go in short time frames. Also, with the vastness of the Hudson Bay, it’s just being in the right place at the right time.
That was the case Tuesday, when Allen found out what happened when the pod went deep into the water out of sight, only to surface a short time later.
“We ripped over to where they were, over in Button Bay, and we saw this big bloodstain in the water,” he said. “I guess when they were down they killed a beluga. You could smell the blubber in the air. And the (killer whales) were moving on to the next one, like nothing had happened.
“It was pretty incredible to see.”
These are sights that only a rare few get to see around the Churchill area. Over 10 years of guiding Churchill summer trips and I’ve never been lucky enough.
