Monday, October 8, 2007

Last night, we said our goodbyes. We said bye to the tundra, to the lodge, and even to the bears. And we were lucky enough to have a Caribou trot alongside the buggy for a few seconds. We had a wonderful night at the PBI House with poem reading and song singing, and then we flew back to Winnipeg. We even sang, "I don't ever wanna go, back to Winnipeg. Take me on a buggy ride, please don't make me beg!" on the bus to the airport.

After an exhausting flight from Winnipeg to Minneapolis, and then to Louisville, I made it home. I must say that it was very difficult leaving my home and family on the tundra to go back to my life in Kentucky.

It has been the best experience of my life! The entire trip has been indescribable. Viewing the wildlife was amazing and unreal, and the people! I've never met such a wonderful, passionate, understanding group. Their is nothing I'd improve on this trip. Even the fact that we split into groups to make our own meals, do our own dishes, get people to do blogs, and yes - even clean up after ourselves, made the trip all the more interesting.

The whole trip home, I was crying my eyes out. We practically lived in our own bubble up there, looking at the world from a different view. We learned and did so many amazing things, met so many inspiring people, that it was hard to believe we had to leave that behind.

But that's okay, because that means that it's time for me to make a difference. For me to make a change. This trip was only the beginning; it was the boost we needed to get things going in our towns. And that's how we are going to fight climate change - one community at a time. We have our information, we have our evidence, and we have our solutions. Now it's time to make the difference needed to fight this war against our own world, that we, as humans, started.

And I'm ready.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Today was a pretty uneventful day. We started the day by (the girls) waking at five o’clock in the morning to go sing to Robert. “Oh, I hate to get up in the morning! I just want to remain in bed.” Yep, we startled the boys, alright! (Although, some, like Michael and Sean, had gotten up to sing as well.)

At the beginning of the day, we thought about our action plans for when we returned home, and when we would make these actions happen. I had a long, long list that included:
• A better recycling program at my school
• Talking to a local light-bulb producer, so that I can convince them to switch to mostly selling fluorescent bulbs & lamps
• Setting up a booth at the Louisville Zoo’s Earth Day on the topic of Arctic (and Global) Climate Change
• Trying to get the rights to show An Inconvenient Truth, and then after the showing, a power point made by me about my trip and the information I learned
• Presentations to local businesses, schools, girl scouts, boy scouts, the Louisville Zoo, etc. on the same topic of my trip
• Expanding Atherton’s environmental club to being a community environmental club (i.e., the Environmental Club of Louisville (ECL))

The rest of the afternoon was rushing to get our things packed so that we could be kicked off (no, we just had to leave so that we could make it back to Churchill to shop at the Tundra Buggy gift shop and make it to the PBI House to eat a dinner of frozen pizza).

Well, we’re flying to Winnipeg in a few hours! Wish us luck!

Until my last blog,

Emily

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Today was absolutely amazing! It started relatively slow, but it sure ended with a bang! We began the day with Robert’s singing (again) and then had a “press conference”, where the facilitators asked each of us questions that required thinking, that we had to answer on the spot. It was great practice. In the middle of it, a pair of sub-adult bears began to play-wrestle! We knew that they weren’t fighting because they laid down afterwards and cuddled. They hung around the buggy, following each other, all day! It was so interesting, since Polar Bears are generally solitary.

Then, we bundled up and boarded the buggies to head out a mere couple hundred yards away from where the two bears were playing (Bill had a shotgun and he was walking the perimeter). Then four helicopters landed, and Beth and I sat in the front of the newer, faster one. The ride to the maternal den was breathtakingly beautiful. We could see the snow blanketing a certain area, and then the end of the prairie and lakes, where the boreal forest began. It was so cool! Apparently some people got to see Caribou.

Once we landed, we ran and hopped around on the mossy, springy ground and had a snowball fight. The only one that hit me was thrown by Michael, and it hit me right in the butt. (Thanks for that, Michael…) We lined up afterwards to the den, which was in the bank of the lake. It was so amazing to crawl into the cool, damp den. I fit relatively well; I was able to turn around in the main cavity. To think; a mother bear gave birth to cubs in this den. So cool!

The ride back was pretty much the same (though I rode in the back that time); after a change and a warm lunch, we had a very…intense…moment. Charlotte told us to lay down and close our eyes; we did. She then gave us a series of images to picture; at the end, she told us to picture what we were going to do when we got home. Then she told us to open our eyes and turn this image into one sentence; mine was “to educate so that I can make a change”. In the end, most of us were crying and hugging. I just have to say, it has been the best experience with these awesome people. I’ve never met a better group.

We ended the day on a light note; we rested, watched our last sunset on the tundra (while the two same bears napped in the kelp together), ate a dinner of leftovers while watching a slideshow of our best pictures that we took. Then we cleaned up and listened to Michael and Katie sing a song called “Under the Tundra Buggy” at the tune of a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sean played the beat on his guitar. It was hilarious! Then Charlotte and Sean sang a song, and we watched Captain (John Bykerk, the driver of our Tundra Buggy) present a slideshow on Polar Bear physiology; then he showed us a slideshow of his pictures.

Until tomorrow (the last day! It can’t be over!!!),

Emily

Friday, October 05, 2007

Well, today was quite busy! But what day hasn’t been? This morning, I awoke to Robert singing – once again – to find that it was really bright outside. It was cloudy, but not rainy. Several times today, we found it snowing! Right before a breakfast of delicious pancakes with raspberries on top, we watched four Coastal Caribou trot around outside about a hundred yards away. They were magnificent! I watched them through the binoculars; it was a pair of cows and calves.

After breakfast, we prepared and performed our second presentation of a chapter from the “Impacts of a Warming Arctic” book. My group (green and white) performed like engineers/professors at a college, covering the topic of thawing ground. We added a comic relief to the serious topic by making up names, one being “Dr. Cuscus.”

Our internet has been down due to the high winds all day yesterday. Despite all of what we tried (some people stayed up all night trying to work on it), it hasn’t come back up. And as Robert said, Mother Nature always wins. So we had to cancel the video conference with some fifth graders in the Oregon Zoo; instead, we recorded us answering the questions that they sent us, and we are going to mail it to them.

After that, we had lunch (chicken soup) and then went out onto the Tundra Buggy for an hour or two. We found one bear, who was laying down to keep out of the strong wind, and then a pair of Peregrine Falcons that were diving at extreme speeds towards the willows, trying to flush out Ptarmigans. They even did a sort of “dance” in the air, like you see when Bald Eagles are doing their mating dance.

Upon return, the biologist, Bill, gave a presentation on extinction and how it is harmful for the environment. It was very interesting!

Our dinner was themed like we were on an airplane; for the main course, we had prime ribs that were really good. They were donated to us, and we are very thankful! Now we are about to go to bed, to prepare for the helicopter ride out to the Polar Bear maternal den in Wapusk National Park. It will be so much fun!

Emily

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Last night, we watched the most amazing Northern Lights! The biologist on board, Bill, said that they were the best he’s ever seen! Greens, purples, reds, and yellows stretched across the sky. It was freezing, but definitely worth standing in the cold. We also saw shooting stars!

This morning, Anne, Frank, Stephan, Cassidy, Katie and I woke up to prepare breakfast (French toast) to the rest of camp. Unfortunately, we couldn’t escape the lodge once again because of the schedule and because of the screaming wind and rain (it even snowed for a while!). Water leaked into the girl’s bunk, but other than that, it was okay. Though we have been having a hard time closing the doors, because the wind is so strong!

All morning, we prepared for a live video conference with fourth graders in a Manitoba school. The teacher sent an email of questions they were going to ask, so we researched the answers that we didn’t know. At 1:15, we answered the questions that they asked. It was so interesting and so much fun!

Tomorrow, we may have the chance to mean the Canadian Prime Minister, and the Manitoba Premier. So we were assigned to think of a question that we would ask a world leader; for an hour this afternoon, we tossed ideas around until we thought of a question for each of us. Mine was something along the lines of, “What do you know about environmental issues, and what are your sources?”

Afterwards, Frank, the director of the Scandinavian Wildlife Park in Denmark, where they have 125 hectares of land for 20 species of native Scandinavian animals, gave a talk about his zoo. It was absolutely amazing; it was my dream – even as a five year old – to make a zoo with large exhibits like his. The Polar Bears have seven acres of space!

Now my team and I made a wonderful dinner of burgers and fries. We are going to have a presentation about the chemistry of the Northern Lights by Stacey, and then we might have a session of “Tundra Buggy hide-and-go-seek”. (Obviously any dangerous location and the bunks are off limits!)

Until tomorrow (hopefully we’ll be plenty busy like today!),

Emily

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

So much has happened since I blogged yesterday! Last night some local Inuit trappers came, and taught us their way of life. Unlike what many people believe, they do not impact the environment in harmful ways – they are actually taking care of it! They found that when trapping is forbidden, the population spikes and Mother Nature ends up causing diseases, making the species have dips in population. The trappers hunt enough of the species so that the population is healthily sustained. After their presentations, they gave us some moose meat. It tasted like a dry, exotic roast. It was great!

This morning I awoke once again to Robert singing “Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day!” This time it actually was! And what was outside of my window? Another bear! He was beautiful, with a magnificent yellow-white coat.

We ventured out on the buggy today, and spotted so much wildlife! On our first trip out, we saw a bear that we watched for about an hour, before heading back for lunch and a presentation by biologist Michael Goodyear on Ringed Seals, the Polar Bear’s primary source of food. Afterwards, we went back onto the buggy – and we saw even more! First we spotted a bear meandering around a large pond. Then, suddenly, a Muskrat swam behind the bear, and the bear leapt after it! Unluckily for the bear, the Muskrat got away. The Muskrat ended up under the tire of another buggy, all fluffed up and round. It was, I have to say, really cute.

Following the example of a predator-prey dynamic, we drove off towards Gordon Point; it is a well-known place on the Hudson Bay. Before we reached our destination, we spotted a young female Caribou trotting around. She was so majestic! Finally she trotted off, and we reached our goal. We stepped off the buggy for about a half an hour of exploring the shore and picture taking. I spotted a copepod species and a school of small fish in the tide.

On our way back to the lodge, we spotted more bears, northern harrier hawks, several ducks, plovers, ptarmigans, herring gulls, an arctic hare that wasn’t in full winter coat, and – once we reached the lodge – an arctic fox! It was in the distance, but it was in winter coat and had a huge tail! I hope to see a fox up close on one of our future outings.

Until tomorrow,

Emily

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

After waking up to Robert singing, “Oh what a beautiful morning,” I got up to see that it was exactly the opposite. It was raining! The wind had been slamming against and rocking the buggies all night. I looked out the window to find a bear sleeping a hundred yards away – its rear end towards the rain and wind. Breakfast was a wonderful (dry) pancake. Yesterday we split up into four groups, based on a paperclip’s color. (My group was green.) We split up so that we could perform daily duties; our duty rotates around every day. My group was on dish duty today, so we had to clean all of the breakfast, lunch, and soon, dinner, dishes.

Because of the rainy weather, we stayed at the lodge. So, our group picked two chapters from the book “Impacts of a Warming Arctic” to give a presentation – my group chose the chapters covering animals being affected and the ground thawing. Today, we performed the animal chapter, as if to fourth graders. So I stood on a chair (to make myself taller) and dressed in a white coat – acting as a mother polar bear – while Stephan dressed in a gray hoodie and kneeled on the floor to act as a seal mother. Cassidy and Katie acted as reporters, interviewing us. It was hilarious!

In the middle of the next presentation, a Polar Bear showed up beside the buggy, and we paused for an hour-long break of pictures. The bear once more placed its forelegs on the buggy, sniffing at the people on it. Tasty treat or just curiosity? I personally don’t want to test for the answer to that. It soon wandered over to start chewing on a loose piece of Styrofome that blew in from the storm from somewhere unknown.

After the presentations were finished, I went back out into the freezing rain and wind to get more great videos and pictures – and the bear started to play! He had wandered back to the same piece of Styrofome, and soon after started to roll. His antics were so much fun to watch!

Now he walked off and made a bed in the kelp, but not before chasing after a flock of ducks. And the bear from this morning is still in the same spot as when I woke up.

I can’t wait to find out what animals we can see tomorrow!

Emily

(Co-written by Becky)

Monday, October 1, 2007

Today we left the Inn and walked over to the local pastry restaurant, Gypsy’s, where they provided us with breakfast. (They also provided us a great lunch!)

We toured the outskirts of Churchill in a small bus, visiting places such as the Polar Bear “Jail” (a compound where they hold wild bears if they pose a threat to the town, until they can be relocated) and the garbage dump. We stopped in the laboratory where a scientist performed tests on various animals. One study on Polar Bears was the effect oil had on them, if it was poured all over him. We ended our tour at the Wapusk National Park interpretive center.

The bus took us out to the Tundra Buggy launch, where we boarded buggy 15 and deported fairly quickly. The buggy felt very rocky – like riding a giant horse. At one point my face was flat against the window, as I watched some Willow Ptarmigans.

After a while of waiting, we finally found more wildlife – Ptarmigans, Arctic Hares (in full white phase), and even a Peregrine Falcon.

Not too soon after, the “captain” – John – spotted a white rock that usually wasn’t there. It was our first Bear! But only a few meters away was a juvenile Caribou – walking right towards the bear. The bear jumped up, sending the Caribou galloping around it. The bear simply watched it pass and sat back down to sleep once more.

About fifteen minutes later, we came upon another magnificent bear. He (we identified it to be a male) came right beside the buggy, even standing up for a second!

But then he loped off, occasionally turning to peer back longingly at the potential meal. What chased it off? Another male Polar Bear! And this guy was even more interactive. He stared directly at me – with beautiful eyes that reflected his personality – that he, too, thought us to be a potential meal. Twice, he reared up and placed his forelegs onto the buggy; his nose was at work. It was absolutely amazing – the best experience of my life. And I’ve had a lot of experiences.



So now I’m getting ready for bed – and a Polar Bear is right outside my window! I still can’t believe I’m in this place.

Until tomorrow!

Sunday, September 29, 2007

We’ve arrived! After a two and a half hour flight, we arrived at the Polar Bear Capital of the world. Once we broke the cloud cover upon our descent, the flat expansive landscape was impressive and – big! It stretched out as far as the eye could see. The airport terminal, however, was exactly the opposite. It was so tiny!

The town of Churchill is about as big as I thought I would be. Exploring the little town was very interesting. Stephan, the local student in the leadership camp, gave us a tour of his town. We visited the Churchill River and the Hudson Bay. The wind was strong in the town, due to being by two large bodies of water. And we had our first near-sighting of a Polar Bear.

We were looking at the Hudson Bay, and suddenly someone from Manitoba Conservation came to warn us that a Polar Bear was sighted a half of a mile away, and heading towards us. What did we do? We got out of there! Sadly we didn’t get to see a Polar Bear, but luckily no one was eaten.

We just saw the Aurora Borealis! It was beautiful. The colors came in magnificent waves, and it really made the cold worth it.

Looking forward to heading out on the tundra!

Saturday, September 28, 2007

It’s only the first real day of being here and I already have learned so much. The slideshows that Robert Taylor and Robert Buchanan showed were powerful. Robert Taylor’s photography was breathtaking; it makes the North seem alive. The power point that Robert Buchanan presented was shocking. It shared unfathomable information, most of which I already knew; one short video showed the reduction of the polar ice from the1980’s to 2005. Even more powerful was how he presented it - it was the Great Awakening of presentations!

Being able to meet people from all over the world has been amazing! Learning about why they decided to come, what their cultures are like, everything, is so interesting. And what’s great is that we can relate.

Today we went to the local zoo here in Winnipeg. The exhibits are well out-dated, but it still was great to be able to visit. I’ve always wanted to see Debbie – the oldest Polar Bear in captivity, now forty – and now I can say that I have! Just because the exhibit is out-dated doesn’t mean she isn’t thriving!

The tour of the city of Winnipeg was interesting, too. I saw something that I dearly miss back in Kentucky – fall colors! The trees are in vivid shades, and the temperature is perfect – in the upper sixties; I’m very impressed with this city.

It’s the end of a great day – and we still have several more lectures and presentations to view!

To everyone back at home – thank you for all of the support that got me here. This is not going to be something I’ll forget anytime soon.

Until tomorrow,

Emily