This short incredible video of a mother polar bear and her cubs emerging from a winter den site in Wapusk National Parc near Churchill, Manitoba. This short clip highlights the vitality of the cubs and fresh look on the world they have during their first exposure. Nothing much else to say about this priceless look into the polar bear’s world!
Visit Churchill and see these amazing polar bear families up close and personal!
A study researching new ways to utilize the Town Centre facility in Churchill will be conducted with a total cost of $35,000. The centre is owned by the province and they are hoping to find new ways to enhance the building in order to initiate more interest in using the facility as a conference center.
Churchill Town Complex. Courtesy Town of Churchill.
Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation and Manitoba Tourism, Culture, Heritage, Sport, and Protection will both provide $15,000 toward the study and the Town of Churchill will kick in another $5,000. The idea of developing a conference center that will be capable of hosting 150 people will be the main focus and objective of the study
“While Churchill has become a premier eco-tourism destination and is internationally recognized for polar bear and beluga whale viewing, the community is wise to seek ways to diversify its economy,” said Minister Kostyshyn. “As well, the existing building is pivotal to community life and adding new services to its roster may benefit area residents.”
“We hope to improve Churchill’s economic sustainability by capturing business opportunities to build on its already successful tourism seasons,” said Minister Lemieux. “Churchill potentially offers a highly unique experience for meetings and conventions, which could be attractive to certain user groups.”
The assessment will explore this new objective and also analyze other remote northern facilities that have implemented meeting and convention centers as a means of drawing visitors to their communities. The study is expected to be finished by the fall.
“This partnership-based approach will seek to continue our community’s ongoing economic diversification efforts while at the same time enabling a new use for Town Centre Complex. We are pleased to undertake this necessary next step,” said Mayor Michael Spence, Town of Churchill.
Currently the Town Centre is operated through an annual grant from the Manitoba government. The many facets of the facility include a swimming pool, ice rink, movie theater, high school, bowling alley, public library, curling club, hospital, playground and town offices of Churchill.
Start of the Hudson bay Quest. Courtesy Hudson Bay Quest.
All 13 mushers competing in the 2015 Hudson Bay Quest are off and running from Gillam, Manitoba towards the finish line in Churchill, Manitoba. Mushers and dog teams can be tracked live throughout the race on: Hudson Bay Quest 2015 Live Tracker. The race skirts Wapusk National Parc, a major polar bear denning protected area, to the east.
The weather is cooperating for this years start with the frigid cold temperatures waning this past week and providing somewhat more comfortable conditions for both dogs and mushers alike. Good luck to all teams in the race and stay safe on the tundra!
Hudson Bay Quest 2014. Brad Josephs photo.
Here are the mushers competing:
Blake Freking
Charlie Lundie
Dan DiMuzio
Dave Daley
Denis Tremblay
Jennifer Freking
Jesse Terry
Justin Allen
Martin Massicotte
Peter McClelland
Ryan Anderson
Shawn McCarty
Tom Terry
This exciting video shows the process of releasing a polar bear from the polar bear holding facility. Bears are sedated and moved outside the facility, placed in a net and then flown by helicopter about 40 miles up the northern coast.
Once the helicopter lands the polar bears are released on the tundra. When they awake, the hope is that they will not return to Churchill prior to season end. Sometimes they do make it back and wind up back in “jail”.
Traveling to Churchill evokes images of pristine white polar bears. This “white” fur blends in with snow and ice to camouflage the animal, not from predators, though more so from prey, such as seals. The black also acts as a receptor for heat absorption from sunlight.
Polar bear with blackish tongue. Natural Habitat Adventures photo.
Each polar bear hair is hollow in core, pigment-free and transparent that scatters and reflects sun-light. The same principle happens with ice and snow.
Just after the molting season in spring and early summer, polar bears appear most white since they are cleanest then. During the seal hunting season out on the Hudson Bay, polar bears absorb oils from the seals and appear yellow in color.
Underneath this thick “white” fur is a black skin layer with four and a half inches of fat below that.
Polar bear skin is black underneath the transparent guard hairs. Brad Josephs photo.
When a polar bear is on land or on the sea ice surface the thick fur coat is what insulates the bear from the cold. However, when polar bears are swimming in water, the thick fat layer is what protects them from the frigid cold. Wet fur is not a good insulator and for this reason mother polar bears tend to keep their cubs out of the water as much as possible. The young bears have not built up the protective fat layer yet. Their fur however is enough to survive the cool spring temperatures.
Mother polar bears avoid having their cubs swim in the ocean until they have the fat reserves to protect them. Jonathan Hayward photo.
Another unique characteristic that allows polar bears to keep warm and exude a whitish glow is luminescence. The insides of these transparent guard hairs have tiny bumps that scatter light and create a greater surface for the light across the animals body. The outside of the hairs also collect salt particles from the ocean and act in the same way to refract or scatter the light. Both of these processes cause an overall glow of white in appearance.
