Another update from Peter Riger, our VP of Conservation who is with a Houston Zoo travel group in Churchill, searching for polar bears.

Today was a lazy day, with Polar Bears!

Same schedule as yesterday but we simply were interested in finding Polar Bears. The weather is changing a bit and we had both sun and snow flurries on and off all morning. We also had Polar Bears of course which we “visited” with for 4-5 hours. Later in the day when it seemed as though the bears, who had been napping on and off, would not be waking up anytime soon, we headed off towards Hudson Bay for a drive around the Wildlife  Mgmt. Area but with the winds blowing and temperatures dropping, only caught sight on a Bald Eagle and waterfowl before heading in at 4pm. Our other group managed to see bears and arctic hare as well.

Both evenings have ended with presentations about the history of the area. Last nights was by a local Metis (Metis are one of the Aboriginal people in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations and European heritage from the early 1800′s) about growing up in the region, the fur trade in the 40′s and 50′s, local culture and living with Polar Bears when they would come through town back then. Tonight’s was from a Parks Canada Ranger on local archaeology and history of the region.

There is a chance the Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis) will show itself if the clouds clear and it is cold enough although it is a little early in the season. If you want to be woken up to see them at 3 or 4am you just leave a sign on your door that says Please Disturb – and somebody will.

Tomorrow is a helicopter excursion, for those who requested it as an extension, over the area and edge of Wapusk National Park. Others are spending time in town before we head to lunch near the Bay as a pod of Beluga Whales were seen there today, another late season strange occurrence this year.

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