My Final Blog

What touched me the most was what incredibly amazing character polar bears have. They are clumsily playful, they practice loving kindness to each other and especially to their offspring, they are the most patient animals I have ever seen by waiting for so long on the shore - 1/2 year - for the sea to ice up so they can have a meal, they wait and wait and wait, while never getting impatient, never getting frustrated, always looking at the world with an open heart and curiosity. They are respectful to each other and their friends, the Eskimo dog. They do not judge. They do not criticize. They love peace. They practice fair play from wrestling and learn humility from it. They don't understand why we chase them. It would be impossible for me to hunt them. They are more noble than any human being. Yet their lives on this planet may end soon if they are not resilient to the changes of their habitat.

Above all, I believe they forgive us for the sins we have committed against them. They are saintly, and the most tangible being to God that I have ever experienced.

Tuesday and Wednesday

We spent most days searching for bears. We didn't see too many b/c the weather has been so warm (above 32 degrees F). They don't like to move around when it's warm b/c they get overheated. Their thick fur and body fat are great insulators and they are designed to be comfortable in freezing conditions.

We went dog sledding which was really fun. Since there was no snow (just melting ice), the dogs pulled us on carts with wheels.

It was great fun and total chaos with over 50 dogs barking to be chosen to pull the sled.

Every night we've had classes in the evening. We have studied polar bear biology, their environment, the various types of vegetation, the  culture of the indigenous people and the climate of the northern hemisphere.

Dr. Halfpenny is an expert on polar bears as well as climate change. He is one of the top scientists who collect data for reporting.

Wednesday was our last day.  We had just spotted a bear by the side of the road. While we were watching it, a helicopter come right over us and pick up 2 bear management guys with a dart gun, They were obviously after the bear we were watching. This was 50 feet off the side of the road. We were witness to amazing maneuver of tranquilizing the bear, putting it in to a net and flying off to the bear jail. We later found out that it was hurt (had a wound on it's back) and was quite thin. They took it to bear jail to evaluate it. It's name was patches and had been getting into trouble around the Tundra Buggies, eventually sleeping on the front porch of someone's house. I have pictures of this, but got videos of the helicopter lifting the bear in the net and will post that on a later date on FB.

The remainder of the day we spent tracking bear prints and going to museums.

Saturday

Photos of the beach we ate lunch, the "Ithica" stranded many years ago off the coast of Churchill, ice pancakes on the beach, a biology lesson on the beach, a red fox and the moon from the same beach.

Tundra Buggy

Churchill is 120 miles from any road. You cannot drive here. It's either by train or plane. 

We spent our 2nd day in the Tundra Buggy. It is a large 4-wheel truck/bus that is 14 feet off the ground to clear any curious bears. This picture is what the tundra looked like.

It was very windy and about 35 degrees which is very warm for this time of year.

There were 2 highlights to our day trip...a mother and her cub crossing the snow-less tundra and 2 males wrestling each other.

This mother and cub are on a frozen pond

As we drove up to the 2 male bears, they were lying nose-to-nose as if they were best friends keeping each other company. Then one of them got up and nudged the other with his nose b/c he wanted to play. Since he didn't get the response he wanted, he slapped him with his dinner-sized paw. Then they stood up and sparred (play wrestle) for about 10 minutes. Then they both broke away and laid in a snow drift prostrate to cool off while eating snow.

What I've noticed about all these bears is how patient they are. They are waiting for the sea ice to freeze up so they can hunt, and it's not happening. The mothers are so kind and caring to their offspring. They all have peaceful expressions that are lovable. They have a sense of humility and fairness. It is hard to imagine how dangerous they are to humans.

The bears also make friends with sled dogs that are tied up. The bears are social animals and see dogs as friends, not food. The dogs love them too, and engage in play with the bears when the bears come to visit them.

Most of the time the bears are sleeping. It is warm here and they get overheated easily. Polar bears spend 79% of their time sleeping, 17% being active (walking, digging) and 3% being social, so it was a real treat to watch them be social.

These bears have not eaten since April. The warmer weather pushed them off the ice b/c the ice was melting. Their main source of food is seals and they can only hunt them while on sea ice. They cannot hunt while swimming and the seals do not come ashore. When the seals are having their babies, their blow holes make a small cubby in the ice. Polar bears can smell them miles away, even though they are under 6 feet of ice. The bear crashes through the top to the baby and eats it. Then it waits for the parent to come back and eats them. This is all they do out on the ice...eat. They have not had a real meal since April. They become scavengers and lose up to 6 lbs/day. They are "skiny" right now.

Dr. Halfpenny predicts in 10 years, there will be no more ice in the Arctic. People will be able to sail their boats across the North Pole in 10 years.

Arrived in Churchill!

Churchill was everything I expected. Harsh climate, cold, windy not many trees...kinda like Livingston! But it is the warmest it has been on record. Today it got up to 28 F. The sea ice is far from freezing up. There is an old ship that ran aground and has stayed in the ay for many years.

Dr. Halfpenny picked us up at the airport and we did a short tour on the way to the Churchill Research Center. Here is the first polar bear we saw, crossing a frozen pond. Dr. Halfpenny thought her to be a 3-4 yr old (young).

Before dinner we watched the sunset as a group together.

But the best part of the day was seeing the aurora borealis after dinner. It was fantastic! And dangerous. Polar bears can be anywhere laying in the bushes. They are silent on their fluffy feet and can be sneaky. Every time Jim let us out of the van, he had to patrol the area first with a riffle to make sure no bears were nearby. The borealis was so incredible we all cheered like we were watching an exciting football game. We could actually see the curtains move, like a slow-moving, waving flag, changing from lime green, yellow, into red! It came straight down from the North and spanned all the way across the sky, right over us. It was immense. The borealis is 60 miles tall and is 100 miles from us here on earth. A sight to behold.

 What a great day!

Tomorrow is the Tundra Buggy followed by more classroom time.

Exploring Winnipeg

Sorry for the long break! I've been having so much fun, and it's been non-stop!

I arrived Winnipeg on Tuesday early afternoon. After settling into my lovely room, I went to "The Fort" for dinner and explore. The Fort is sorta like Crossroads with open food market, beer and wine bar, and novelty shops.

Wednesday morning was beautiful. It was sunny day and 60 degrees F. Unseasonably warm for this time of year. I went to 2 galleries. One was an Inuit Gallery and the owner shared with me information about native art, culture and landscape. I learned from him. After that I went to the Winnipeg Art Museum where there was an special of Northern Canadian Indian Arts and their native dress, as well as Renaissance and  modern art. I loved it! I walked to dinner across the river and stopped in at the Cornerstone Restaurant for happy hour, having a lively political discussion with a few of its regulars. One was a brick layer and the other was a Native Indian who worked for the Canadian government. After that, I celebrated my new niece, Saliha, and went to a Ethiopian Restaurant which was excellent.

Winnipeg is ready for Christmas and the lights along Main Street were festive.

Tomorrow I get up at 4 am to fly to Churchill from Winnipeg.

Livingston to Manitoba

Once I printed my driving map at home, I realized I had a 12 hour drive time instead of a 6-hour drive. I don't know why I thought that. I gave Molly a hug and extra treats and left at 8:30 am, heading East on I-90 towards the North Dakota/Canadian border. After passing Billings, there were some amazing rock formations. I felt my artistic nature come out wanting to paint every landscape and rock that I passed. I got pictures, and will surprise you with a painting later.

I know people like pictures in blogs...

As I passed through N. Dakota, I traveled through the Bakken Oil Fields. Barren land which transformed into multiple oil rigs crammed together next to the road, some 3 to an acre, and continued on into the distance. They were everywhere. Mixed in with hay fields, hay rolls and cows. Trailer homes for oil workers lined up one after another called "Man Camps" infilterated the landscape. Asphalt roads were warped from semi's carrying heavy loads of oil or construction equipment. This is the new oil boom. Homes built quickly to absorb the influx of people, and built not to last more than 10 years. As I was driving, I got this dandy pic of an oil rig right by the road. Reminded me of growing up in Oklahoma. They look like huge ants, rocking up and down, with their nose to the ground, sucking life out of the earth.

Alongside of these oil rigs were flames burning the excess fumes. I didn't see it during the day, but as night fell I noticed many flames...like yellow hair blowing in the wind. Each oil rig had it's own torch, like an elevated bonfire in the middle of a pasture. These continued on into the night and scattered across the land as far as you could see. In the dark, I tried to imagine these flames as Native American camps, maybe the ones that Uncle Walter attended. The horizon morphed into the sky and the stars came out, blending the Milky Way with little dots of oil torches.

After crossing the North Dakota border, I entered Saskatchewan, which was a surprise, but lasted briefly as I passed the very SE corner and into Manitoba. 10 miles into Canada, the lamps of the oil rigs ended and were replaced by cozy farmhouse lights along the highway. I drove to a point where I could see no lights at all. I pulled over and got out to stretch my legs. The air was crisp and smelled sweet and fresh. The moon was out. It was lovely.

I drove another 3-1/2 hours in the dark to my hotel in Brandon Manitoba. I look forward to waking and seeing what the territory looks like in daylight. Next stop...Winnipeg, where I will spend 2 nights before flying to Churchill with my group. Tomorrow...only a 200 mile drive.