Welcome to Churchill, Manitoba

This is my second trip to Churchill. I had the extreme fortune to accompany WWF-Canada’s species director, Dr. Peter Ewins, to this amazing place last September. WWF-Canada funded six satellite radio collars and we were here to help researchers from the Canadian Wildlife Service install two collars to adult female bears with cubs which we then tracked online (wwf.ca/tracker). But even though this is not my first time here, this is a very magical and beautiful place and despite the rain, I am so excited to be here again and be a part of PBI’s Leadership Camp. It’s especially great to see and hear the reactions of the ‘first timers’ as they experience everything.

Before lunch at the famous family run Gypsy’s restaurant, we visited the post office to get our passport stamped with an official Churchill, Manitoba polar bear stamp to commemorate our time here. We also visited the local school – both the elementary and the high school are in the same complex, along with the hockey rink, swimming pool and theatre. Of course, as this is Churchill, and as temperatures are fairly cold for most of the year – not to mention the fact that a polar bear might wander into town during the spring and summer months – the kids playground is also inside the complex (and I took my turn at the slide). Unlike many other places in Canada that have outdoor playgrounds, it just doesn’t work like that here!

But the highlight of the day was the fact that we got to see 5 bears! Two males along the coast of Hudson Bay just outside of town, and a mom with two cubs once we drove into the Churchill Wildlife Management Area on the Tundra Buggy. The female and her cubs curiously sniffed our buggy along with the other tourist buggies and provided everyone with great picture taking opportunities. For many on the buggy, these were the first wild bears they had ever seen. But even though they weren’t my first, it was still such a thrill and an awesome privilige to be able to watch them in their natural habitat and be that close to the world’s largest living land carnivore.

Along the way to the Tundra Buggy Lodge – our home for the next few days – we were also very lucky to see ptarmigans, an Arctic hare and a female snowy owl. As I sit here typing this entry, all snug indoors while listening to the wind howl outside, gently rocking the lodge, I’m hoping these sightings are just a sign of what’s to come in the days ahead.

(check out some of today’s photos)

Lenore Nadeau