Churchill 2018
Churchill, Manitoba, is located at 58°N. Despite being well south of the Arctic Circle, the climate is colder than in many places further north. Temperatures are dropping to -20°C (-4°F) already in early November. This is polar bear season in Churchill. The bears are gathering at the coast of Hudson Bay to wait for the sea ice to form. Only then will they be able to go hunting for their favorite prey: seals. Our trip to Churchill took place in the middle of polar bear season and allowed for close encounters with these fascinating predators.
Preparations
While our previous trips to the Arctic have been during the short summer months, this was our first winter trip to this region. Therefore, we needed to prepare for temperatures as low as -20°C (-4°F). Taking the windchill into account, these temperatures can feel like -40°C (-40°F). Since we planned to go for longer walks across the tundra, only the best winter gear would be sufficient. We packed warm base layers, socks, mitts, hats, scarves in addition to our polar grade boots and parkas. And just to be on the safe side, we also brought plenty of chemical hand and foot warmers.
But would our cameras be working in these conditions? We bought some additional battery packs, since batteries are draining quicker in the cold. And we also packed some airtight bags to protect our cameras from condensation when taking from cold to warm. As you can imagine, our baggage limits were easily maxed out.
Getting There
Our final destination was Seal River Heritage Lodge on the Hudson Bay Coast, north of Churchill (Manitoba, Canada). While the lodge is completely off grid, even the town of Churchill is very remote. Normally, it would be accessible by train or plane. But since a heavy rainstorm washed out the railroad tracks some 18 months ago, Churchill is accessible by air only. This is a tough time for the locals, since everything, from food to building materials has to be transported there as (expensive) air cargo.
Our approach to this remote location was from Europe to Toronto and then on to the city of Winnipeg. Our flight arrived late in the evening and we spent the next day exploring the sights of Winnipeg. The temperature was just below freezing and it was snowing lightly. Therefore, we decided for a mostly indoors program. We visited the Manitoba Museum and the historic quarters around the confluence of Red River and Assiniboine River, called „The Forks“. There is also a small shopping mall at The Forks, and an excellent food court. Dinner was at our hotel, The Grand at Winnipeg Airport, with our fellow guests for the next week.
We took an early morning flight from Winnipeg to Churchill. The local carrier CalmAir is serving the entire north of Manitoba, including the remote town of Churchill. Upon arrival in Churchill, a strong cold wind and temperatures around -10°C (14°F) clearly showed us that we had arrived in the Arctic. Our decision to already wear our winter gear on the flight north proved useful. Seal River Heritage Lodge is located 60km (40 miles) north of Churchill. With two Cessna Caravan planes, our group of 15 persons was flown directly to the small airstrip next to the lodge. Already on this flight, we could appreciate the remoteness of this lodge. And we could also see from above, that Hudson Bay was already freezing over. That was a good sign since that would be attracting polar bears to the shoreline.
Arrival
We could already spot the lodge in easy walking distance from the airstrip. But being in polar bear territory meant, that walking was not always the safest option. Therefore, we were shuttled to the lodge with some quads with trailers. Suddenly, a polar bear appeared seemingly out of nowhere, just next to our vehicles. What a gorgeous welcome!
Seal River Heritage Lodge is owned by the Reimer family and operated by their tour company Churchill Wild. They have been building and updating the lodge for the last 25 years. It features 8 guest rooms, a large living room with an extremely cozy fireplace and awesome views over Hudson Bay. Next to the living room is the large, panoramic dining room. We still cannot decide, whether we like the view or the homestyle food better… Anyway, both are just incredible!
We were greeted by the very friendly staff. This is really hard to explain, but after just a few hours, we felt like family and instantly fell in love with the place. After settling into our comfortable rooms, we had to learn how to behave in polar bear territory. The plan was to go walking with polar bears on ground level, without any fences. While we knew, that Churchill Wild was doing this for over 25 years without any incidents, we wanted to make sure that we understood all the do‘s and don’ts.
The most important rule is to never walk outside the fenced compound on your own. Polar bears would definitely be attacking a single human, but would most likely stay away from a larger group. As a group, it‘s actually quite challenging to approach a polar bear without scaring him away. Frequent stops, low voices and a slow meandering approach in single file was the best strategy for approaching a polar bear. For safety reasons, you would never get closer to a bear than approx. 100 meters (300 feet). At any time, three polar bear guides were accompanying our group. Most of them have been guiding for Churchill Wild for many years.
Should the guides notice any unusual behavior from a polar bear, we would immediately retreat. Should a polar bear suddenly show more interest in the group, there would be six measures of defense:
1. Shouting at the bear. Bears are not used to human voices and are most likely scared away by this unusual sound.
2. What the guides call „weapons of mass destruction“: Using two rocks and banging them together. Again, polar bears are not used to this noise and will probably be startled.
3. Throw a rock at the bear. Nobody touches a polar bear, therefore polar bears are not used to this sensation.
4. Shooting in the air with the alarm gun.
5. Using bear spray, a police grade pepper spray.
6. Using the large caliber shotgun. Obviously, this needs to be avoided since after all we are invading their territory and should never approach them in a way that they would be charging at us. In the more then 25 years of Churchill Wild history, no guide had to ever resort to this measure of defense.
After this briefing, we felt safe and were looking forward to our first walk across the frozen tundra.
Polar Bears
Already on our first afternoon, we spotted a young female polar bear. She had a green mark on her back and a GPS satellite tag in her ear. This was a clear indicator, that she had been too close to the town of Churchill. In the early days, polar bears that ventured into town, were shot. But as polar bear tourism picked up, and Churchill was nicknamed „Polar Bear Capital of the World“, the locals needed to find alternatives to dealing with these wonderful animals. Nowadays, polar bears coming into town are sedated and locked up in the Polar Bear Jail, or Polar Bear Holding Facility, an old airplane hangar. After some time in „prison“, they are flown north, so they will hopefully not be returning to town. The process of handling and accomodating polar bears has evolved over the years. Initially, the bears had been provided with food during their lockup. Since food is scarce for polar bears, especially during summer, there is at least one report of a polar bear trying to break into jail to get some food. Now, polar bears are kept there with just water to make their stay as unpleasant as possible without harming them. In the end, it‘s for their own safety: Should a polar bear return to town and attack people, he would most likely be killed. Preventing this is the top priority.
Anyway, polar bears that have stayed in jail are usually marked with a color spot and are GPS tagged. That‘s why we nicknamed this polar bear „Prison Girl“ :-)
After this exciting encounter, we walked back to the lodge where we spent our first evening with a delicious meal and in front of the fireplace. Very happy and really tired, we went to bed early.
The next morning, a blizzard was pounding the area with high winds and temperatures around -16°C (3°F). Nevertheless, we headed out right after breakfast. Through the snowfall, we could identify two bears in the distance. Both didn‘t seem interested at all and quickly disappeared after noticing our group. In the afternoon, the weather improved significantly. We didn‘t encounter any polar bears initially, but have seen many beautiful white ptarmigans. As we were making our way back to the lodge, we noticed a polar bear just next to the fence of the lodge. It was hiding in the willows and upon approaching it, we recognized Prison Girl. We walked a big circle around her and got a perfect view from inside the fenced compound of the lodge. What a unique experience. Now, we could really relate to the local quote „When you look a polar bear into the eyes, it changes your life“.
Northern Lights
We spent the next day hiking 14km (9 miles) across the frozen tundra and crossing frozen lakes. We even walked to the water hole from where the freshwater for the lodge was pumped and hauled to the lodge by trailer. While it has been a beautiful day with wonderful landscapes, clouds and the typical Arctic sunlight, we have not seen any wildlife. However, admiring the beauty of the landscape, we were completely happy, even without any „PBs“ (polar bears) in the area.
After a long day in the cold Arctic air, we went to bed early. There is always one of the staff up during the night to watch the compound, care for the fire and to check for northern lights. A soft knock on the door woke us up in the middle of the night: northern lights! We were immediately fully awake, jumped into our winter gear, grabbed our cameras and headed outside. We enjoyed a magical display of the northern lights for more than an hour. Finally, with cold hands and feet and with dozens of photos, we went back inside. Despite the excitement, we fell asleep instantly.
Pete
The next day was cold and windy. On our short walk, we didn‘t encounter any wildlife. As soon as we returned to the lodge, we spotted an obviously very old polar bear, slowly approaching the lodge. He was very skinny and weak. You could still see, that he must have been a very impressive polar bear in his best years. But now, he looked tired and his face was covered with scars, telling stories of past fights and victories of this old giant. He lay down next to the lodge and rested for a moment. The building protected him somewhat from the wind and cold. You could see and feel, that he was loosing his strength quickly. It was heartbreaking, seeing this once strong animal becoming so frail and weak. We had tears in our eyes - and still do when remembering this emotional encounter.
The guides told us, that they nicknamed this bear Pete. He has been coming to the lodge every year for many years. He must have been well over 20 years of age by now. Sadly, we all knew that this would be his last winter, probably even his last visit to the lodge. Even younger polar bears are treating animals like Pete with respect. Once, a young polar bear left some food for Pete, who obviously could not be hunting anymore.
After this emotional encounter, we went for our last walk this afternoon. Again, the light was wonderful and we even spotted Prison Girl again in the distance. After dinner, the aurora borealis made another appearance. This time, the northern lights were brighter and more dynamic than we have ever seen. What an incredible last evening at Seal River Heritage Lodge!
Farewell
Our departure from the lodge was delayed due to foggy conditions in Churchill. However, further north, at the lodge, we had what we would consider a perfect day in the Arctic. The sun was shining from a blue sky, with temperatures below -20°C (-4°F). While the flight delay might have bothered the incoming guests, we were completely happy with the additional hours at the lodge. Suddenly, two polar bears appeared right next to the lodge. One of them was so close to the fence, that we would probably have been able to touch him. Which we obviously didn‘t try! But even taking photos was a challenge because he was too close for our telephoto lenses.
Eventually, the weather conditions in Churchill improved and we had to say goodbye to the Churchill Wild team and the lodge. This has definitely been the trip of our lifetime and we made promises to ourselves to be returning one day. While our stay at the lodge came to an end, we still had exciting plans for the next few days. We would be staying in Churchill for three nights before returning to Winnipeg and back home.
Polar Bear Capital
We already noticed on our flight from the lodge to Churchill that the sea ice on Hudson Bay was growing quickly. Also, the temperatures in Churchill had dropped considerably over the last few days. After arriving in Churchill, we settled into our rooms at the Aurora Inn. Just as we wanted to leave our motel to have dinner at the Tundra Inn next door, the lights went out. We quickly discovered, that not only our motel went dark, but the entire town. Since the mobile network was still working, we read on Twitter, that the entire north of Manitoba was without power. Luckily, after a little more than an hour, power has been restored.
The next day, we took a tour over the coastal flats around Churchill with a tundra buggy. Tundra buggies are trucks that are converted and modified for polar bear viewing. While these vehicles can transport up to 40 persons, our group of 15 had an entire buggy to ourselves. This was perfect since everybody had a windows seat and the observation platform in the back was never too crowded. To avoid unnecessary damage to the tundra, these vehicles are equipped with giant tires and are only allowed to drive on designated tracks.
We were incredibly lucky this day: We discovered several polar bears, a polar bear mom with her cub and even two male polar bears play fighting. Polar bears are solitary animals. But as long as they are waiting for the „big freeze“, they are displaying a remarkably social behavior. It is not proven whether they are play fighting for training or just for fun. However, there are numerous accounts of play fights where the stronger bear would let the inferior win. There seems to be at least some fun or goodwill involved.
Some of the polar bears came right up to our buggy. With our long telephoto lenses, we took photos of noses and eyes since they were so close… While the polar bear encounters on ground level are more emotional, here you can get much closer to the animals. Since these experiences are so much different, it‘s a good idea to do both, if you have the chance.
We had one more day in Churchill. There is a very interesting museum, where we spent quite some time. Our next stops was the local post office, where we absolutely had to get the much sought after postmark of Churchill on our postcards or even passports. Before heading back into town, our driver took us to the Polar Bear Holding Facility. There is a large mural of a polar bear, but otherwise, there‘s not a lot to be seen. Our means of transportation was an old school bus. And this school bus got stuck in a snow drift next to the polar bear jail. With a team effort of shoveling snow and pushing the bus, our group had the bus back on the street quickly. Just before lunch, we returned to Main Street and had some spare time to stroll through the souvenir shops and also the local hardware store. Serving as hub for the surrounding region, Churchill has a surprisingly good infrastructure for such a small, remote town.
The afternoon had a different type of adventure in store: We went dogsledding through the boreal forest just outside Churchill. Team Wapusk had won several contests and the musher and his Huskies were already waiting for us in anticipation. We were just joining them as passengers. It was amazing how fast these animals could run. We spent a wonderful afternoon with the dogs and learned a lot of interesting insights from the owner of Team Wapusk.
Before flying back to Winnipeg the next afternoon, we had one more trip with a tundra buggy to look forward to. Again, we watch several polar bears. One came right up to our buggy and was even standing on his hind legs to try to get a better view (or bite…). But tundra buggies are constructed for exactly this purpose and they are tall enough for the passengers to be safe at all times.
It was amazing to see the ice on Hudson Bay change quickly. Two days ago, the ice was close to shore. Now, a south wind pushed the ice back out into the bay, leaving open water near the shore. The polar bears would have to wait for a few more days for the ice to become solid enough to carry their weight.
After a wonderful week in polar bear territory, our time to say goodbye finally arrived. We flew back to Winnipeg where we had one last dinner together to relive our adventures of the past days. This trip to Churchill, and especially to Seal River Heritage Lodge, was just unique and will always be remembered as one of our most exciting, but also most emotionally touching trips. Watching young polar bears sparring, and also seeing and old bear like Pete approaching us was just incredible. It might take days or weeks to fully grasp what we had alle encountered within just a few days.
