Apologies to everyone. I know that we promised something special two days ago but the realities of travel got in the way. On Tuesday we left Churchill and got into Winnipeg in the evening. I won't bore you with the details of our travails other than to say that we almost lost most of our camera gear and all of our photos from the trip. Can you spell STRESS! When we got to Winnipeg I had the choice of writing the blog or spending the evening in the bar with our travel companions. I guess you can figure out which one I chose.
Our trip from Winnipeg to San Francisco was no less trying, including lost luggage in Calgary. After multiple delays (despite excellent weather) we finally made it home last night at 9 pm. But enough whining.
Day 5
Day 5 was shaping up to be extraordinarily boring. The polar bear tour was finished. It was planned as a travel day. However, our flight was not scheduled to leave until 6 pm. Cathy and I had already seen pretty much all of what Churchill had to offer (not a lot). After a tour around the town that morning we had lunch at the Gypsy Cafe. It was there that our specialist guide, Richard, discovered that there was a special event happening at 2 pm. All plans changed instantly.
If you check our blog from November 13 I described the polar bear jail. What Richard learned was that at 2 pm one of the polar bears was to be "paroled" from jail and airlifted to a remote location on the Hudson Bay. We all piled into a semi-heated school bus and headed for the "jail".
When we arrived the "parolee" was already tranquilized and laying in a cargo net in front of the jail. We all disembarqed from the bus not wanting to miss the event, knowing that the airlift would happen rapidly. We stood in the freezing wind for about 15 minutes, waiting for the helicopter to arrive. The freezing wind, combined with bus exhaust made for a memorable experience.
Finally, in the distance, we heard the unmistakable thump, thump, thump sound of a helicopter approaching. As it was approaching we noticed a sudden activity amonst the Natural Resources personnel. Suddenly an ATV appeared towing a trailer with a tranquilized polar bear cub on it. The helicopter landed in front of the jail and immediately the Natural Resources staff carried the cub to the helicopter and loaded it into the PASSENGER COMPARTMENT!. A cable from the 'copter was connected to the cargo net and before you knew it the helicopter took off, lifting the mother polar bear into the air. The helicopter headed north northwest on a mission to drop the mother and cub on the shore of the Hudson Bay about 100 miles from Churchill.
It was never explained to us why the cub was loaded into the passenger compartment of the helicopter while the mother was in a cargo net outside. The only thing that we could figure was that cubs do not have sufficient insulation from the cold to survive the trip.
Richard told us an amusing story about one of the bear lifts. Once again, a mother and cub were being airlifted. Inside the helicopter was the pilot, the cub and one Natural Resources personnel. About midway through the flight the Natural Resources person was startled when "something" started licking his hand dangling by his side! Since that time all flights have include two Natural Resources staff on air lifts with cubs inside to monitor the status of the cub!
The amazing part of this event was the demonstration of just how concerned the people of Churchill and Mannitoba are about the welfare of the polar bears. The existence of the "polar bear jail" and airlifting the bears to safety show just how much the people up north care for the natural environment.
To see photos of the polar bear air lift, click on the link below. Then either click on "slideshow" on the upper right corner of the screen to see a slideshow of the pictures or click on the first thumbnail image to view the picture manually.
Please come back tomorrow for one last entry about our polar bear adventure.
Take care,
Mark and Cathy
http://www.pbase.com/mspemberton/polar_bear_lift
Our polar bear adventure is complete. Cathy and I learned a great deal about polar bears and life in the sub-arctic during our short stay in Churchill. The polar bears are truly magnificent animals and while they are not endangered at this time they are at risk. The observed populations around Churchill are declining. The Hudson Bay is freezing later and later due to global warming. Given that polar bears don't eat from the time of the spring thaw until the bay freezes over again this delayed freeze could endanger the population.
