From the Arctic: Nature Arrives Curbside

Today, June 25, was our day off. Off as in no counting of seedlings.

However, the day started at the same time as the rest. We were to be ready by 9 a.m. to catch a bus for a scheduled nature tour. The driver, Sheldon, pulled up in a van that said "Nature" on the front. We laughed that finally nature was coming to us. We first headed to the coast. We explained that all of us hoped a polar bear sighting was in our future after all the worry and precautions. Sheldon told us that the coast was the place to be to have a chance at spotting one.

At the coast, we got to climb on some beached ice floes. They were like clouds that had run ashore, prompting us all to exclaim with delight as we spotted shapes in the ice forms. As the ice beaches and melts in a repeating fashion it takes on many other-worldly shapes. We all managed to climb upon one ice floe for a group picture. Minutes after getting down we heard a loud THUD, crack and crash and looked back to see the floe now in many broken pieces!

The shore was a rocky coast line and we climbed among the ice thrust boulders that had been smoothed by glacier action. Each new crevasse and cranny revealed new flowers or pools or animal nests. We all got to taste sandwort, giving it mixed reviews. It tasted a bit fishy according to some but I found it pungent and quite tasty. We also watch several Parasitic Jaegers, a bird type found here, accost a small tern for its hard-found piece of fish. They worried the smaller bird until it released its claim on its meal.

Many side trails later—even one locally called "polar bear alley" because it was near the town dump and was known to attract bears—and we had still not seen a bear. Our tour ended with a stop at Cape Merry. From here we saw belugas gracefully rising and dipping for air. The sight of their stark white backs sliding through the water caused my breath to stop for just a second. Their profound beauty and grace was startling. We also saw some seals playing along the shore. They rarely come ashore here because that puts them at greater risk of predation from the bears.

A quick drive to town and we had some time in Churchill proper, a town of about 900, in the summer. The town is small. We were told that when the first four-way stop went in people did not know what to do. Prior to that, courtesy had seemed sufficient. Disputes are handled amongst the concerned parties and everyone knows who is from town, and it takes quite awhile to be considered from town!

We explored the two gift shops, buying the required T-shirts, cuddling the Canadian Eskimo Dog puppies, and viewing the world class collection of Inuit artifacts at the local Eskimo Museum. We then took a rest break at a local eatery called Gypsy's. They make many of their own pastries and I highly recommend the banana muffins! We also had a common Canadian dish, french fries and brown gravy. Philip, the owner's son was very polite and friendly. Another waiter let us know that the kitchen closes at 9 p.m. when we mention our team's plans to eat here after a boat tour. Little did we know that this would become important!

We met Dr. Kershaw and he took us to the port where we boarded two zodiac boats for a whale watching tour to find the belugas who had visited us earlier along the coast. We got off to a rocky start when one of the boats was losing center ballast due to a polar bear puncture in their zodiac. A quick reinflate seemed to solve the issue, for now as it turned out. We did not know that part of the tour would take us out into the Hudson Bay not only to see a large ice floe, but to also get the chance to walk upon it. We had seen seals on the floe who, after being annoyed with us, took refuge in the water through a hole in the ice. The breaking of the piece of ice floe earlier made a few of us think twice about trusting the ice but we were assured that the ice was strong and safe. However, my heart did lurch once when my boot sank a few inches into the ice.

The floe was exciting but not nearly as much as heading up stream in the Churchill River to find the belugas. It turns out that we don't find them so much as they find us. The water here is much warmer and the belugas come here until the tide forces them back out into the bay. They are very curious and swam back and forth around and under our zodiac, their white skins looking like orange shadows as they bravely zoomed by our boat slightly submerged. They seemed to be playing a game, daring each other to come near, but not too close. Picture taking was almost impossible because you could not guess if they would rise for air or dive deeper as they approached. On our late (remember the closing kitchen) return, the other boat had more difficulty but nothing dangerous, just another reinflate. Not a reassuring thing to riders in an inflatable boat.

We arrived at dinner to find out bear guard, and local, had convinced the restaurant to hold the kitchen for us and we enjoyed a great dinner, many of us seizing the chance to order Caribou, being careful not to look at the picture of a herd hanging on the wall.

So a truly magical, sunny, perfect bug-free Arctic summer day…..and still no bears.