Watching Polar Bears






The Churchill Wildlife Management Area was where we went to watch polar bears; it was about a 30 minute drive out of town.








A "tundra buggy" similar to the one we rode in to go out on the tundra to find the bears. The tires are 5 feet in diameter and the bottom edge of the windows is 10 feet from the ground, so the buggies are pretty big. At the back is an area where people can step outside for taking photos. Also, the windows are designed to open for photo shooting. In our buggy, however, the windows tended to freeze up from moisture accumulating on the inside and freezing.








Our driver, Kevin. He was pretty good at finding bears. When the bear viewing season is over, he works as a park ranger for Parks Canada.










The interior of our buggy. It had seating for about 40 people. In the rear was a toilet and a large heater which ran continuously.








Our first day of polar bear watching, the weather was cold and very windy. Kevin said that, in these conditions, the bears tend to hunker down and sleep a lot, which is what we saw. When the wind dies down, the bears become more active.







This bear has just awoken and needed to yawn ...








and then to stretch ...








and stretch some more.









Time for a stroll.










He is most likely looking for food.









These two siblings are eating kelp, which has got to be pretty far down their list of favorite foods.









Young bears play, just like puppies.









When you see cameras poking out the windows of a buggy, it is pretty certain that they have spotted a polar bear.










And the bear may have spotted them too. The younger bears were very curious about the buggies.









"Could they be a source of food?"









"Let's try over here."










I was leaning out the window to get a better picture; this bear tried to get closer by leaping up towards me. Fortunately, he couldn't leap high enough, or I might have been seeing a bear "up close and personal".







A couple of the tundra buggy companies have lodges out on the tundra, where guests can stay overnight. The lodges are basically buggies and trailers hooked together to form sleeping and eating accomodations.

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