As we begin this year’s bear season in Churchill, the weather has been unseasonably warm, with a hint of fall color remaining on the tundra.
It’s been great to reconnect with friends in the community as we set up the Polar Bear Cams and prep for our fall research and outreach. This is the first year that we've used both the Polar Bears InternationaI House and the Mars Arctic Research Center as base camps—amazing new spaces that are making our work so much easier.
We’re seeing lots of snow buntings and occasional snow geese—and polar bear sightings are starting to pick up, including a nice view of a female bear swimming off Gordon Point. She spent a lot of time in the water before heading directly to the Tundra Buggies parked onshore. We don’t often get to see the bears swimming in the fall, so this was a real treat. She spent quite some time with the buggies before moving on to settle in some nearby willow.s Bear activity will pick up even more as temperatures drop and the bears anticipate freeze-up on Hudson Bay.
