Editorial

Hope my polar bear made it back

Bad Journalism

The polar bear alongside the boat makes a low chuffing sound. He dives to escape us.  Each time he surfaces, he moves farther into open water, farther from land.  A few passengers ask our guide, Wally, if we’re stressing the bear. I don’t hear his answer. I’m too busy kneeling low on the deck with my Canon. I stretch out one hand. The bear swims just beneath it, and he’s magnificent.

What little I know about polar bears I’ve learned through the media. Polar bears can swim more than 60 miles without rest, but they also can drown. This time of year (August), they are usually fasting, conserving calories until the ice forms and allows them to hunt seals again. Climate change means that the ice melts sooner in the spring and freezes later in the winter. Only after I’ve clicked off about 100 images does it occur to me that Wally might be chasing this bear because of me. I’m with a travel magazine. I’m worse than global warming. I’m a journalist.

Immediately after I take my seat, Wally tries to herd the bear back toward shore, using the boat like a cattle dog on a ranch. But the bear is labored and confused and only wants to get away from us. There’s no land in sight. We leave him adrift in Hudson Bay.

Guilt’s a heavy souvenir, and I take it home with me. Every time I look at the images from Churchill, Manitoba, I get a sick feeling. The only thing that would make me feel better is to know that my bear made it home, too. But I don’t get to know that. I get to live with the knowledge that my over-exuberance might have cost this bear his life or, at the very least, pissed him off.

It’s been five months since that trip. I write up this editorial and show it to my assistant editor. She has lots of questions. Aren’t there laws against a guide bringing tourists that close to a polar bear? Shouldn’t Wally be reported? How can tourists find reputable guides for similar trips?

I e-mail Wally, expressing my concern— as I should have on his boat last summer. His response makes me feel better (see entire letter posted below). First of all, Wally loves polar bears and is heavily involved with the researchers and the Manitoba conservationists who track the bears’ health and well-being. Polar bears living in estuaries (such as the Seal River off Hudson Bay) continue to eat throughout the summer because seals and beluga whales remain plentiful and easy for the bears to hunt from large boulders and tidal pools. They don’t need the ice to land their prey. These polar bears, Wally writes, “contrary to international media reports, are not in dire straits.” Researchers from the Canadian Wildlife Service have spotted bears for days at a time more than 30 miles offshore. The guideline for tour boats, which Wally helped set, is a maximum of 10 passes on each side. And he maintains that the bears are not scared of people at all. They are curious and, because of their frequent visits to town, they’re apt to land in the famous Churchill Polar Bear Jail. It takes cracker shells or bird bombs to keep them out of trouble.

I’m guessing that my bear made it home, but I still feel like an intruder at best. The bear did not seek me out. And when he tried to get away, I chased him. It may have been legal—a common practice even—and may have caused no harm to the bear, but it crossed a line for me. And the photos I carry from that trip will serve as a reminder that just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should.

-Michelle Theall

Hello Ms. Theall

It’s been a while since you were in Churchill. I hope that you are doing well during these colder months.
Thank you for your good questions, and I sense your concern regarding the Polar Bear that we had seen this summer as well as Polar Bears in general.

As general policy when we encounter Polar Bears as we did the day that you were with us we allow ten passes on each side of our boat. The day that we went out there was a slight wind which discourages the Polar Bears in the area to hunt as they prefer flat water when hunting. We have seen up to as many as 20 Polar Bears in one trip at the Seal River Estuary which means that there are bears everywhere. We have also come across Polar Bears over 30 miles from shore in this area. The general reason why Polar Bears congregate in this area is because of the ready availability of food in the form of three species of Seals (Ringed, Bearded, Harbour) which concentrate around the mouth of the river as well as up to 4000 Beluga Whales which also congregate in this area. It would be incorrect for me to say that these bears at the Seal River do not eat during the summer months. I have witnessed several Seal kills as well as at least 3 Beluga Whale kills in this area, some while on tour and some while not on tour. The Polar Bears of Seal River are not in hibernation as might be the case of bears who venture further inland. When they come off the ice during the month of July these bears continue to feed from either ice pans as late as the middle of July, or in open water or as I have witnessed from large boulders that they jump from to capture and kill Whales or Seals for the rest of the summer. Each time the tidal waters recede there are Seals and occasional Beluga Whales which are caught in tital pools, easy prey for a bear. Polar Bears also enjoy the coolness of swimming in the Hudson Bay as they often overheat if they stay on land during parts of our relatively short but hot summers.

My assistant Mr. Bela Baliko who travels with me on all our Seal River trips each summer is a research assistant with Dr. Nick Lunn. Both work for the Canadian Wildlife Service which sponsors research each year in the Churchill area. Years ago when we started this trip I made the policy decision of 10 passes on each side of our boat. Mr. Baliko made immediate commentary that the Polar Bears that we see on our tours of the Seal River and other water tours on the Churchill River as well as the Caribou River can handle much more exposure than this amount. He made reference to work done by Dr. Lunn which finds Polar Bears in open water sometimes for days at a time as much as 30 miles offshore. Polar Bear (Ursus Maritimus) means water bear. Polar Bears because of the huge amount of fat swim very well as fat is lighter than water. Also the Polar Bears in this area as in other estuarine areas do not have trouble finding food during the summer months as there is a ready food supply in the Seals and Whales.

I know that it is not popular to say so, but Western Hudson Bay Polar Bears continue to come off the winter ice each year in very good shape. This can be corroborated by Mr. Steve Kearney (Head of public land management) and Mr. Daryl Hedman ( Manitoba Conservation wildlife branch), whom I meet with each year as a courtesy call each December after my season is over. Each year we discuss the condition of the bears as well as public policy, my operating season as a tour business, and the populations and condition of wildlife in Northern Manitoba and the Western Hudson Bay basin. We exchange extensive information from my perspective as a tour operator and from their perspective as government managers in their respective fields. Three years ago I came across two Beluga Whales that had been shot and had only a strip of whale blubber (Muktuk) removed and then left to rot. Likely perpetrators were Inuit hunters who came through this area on their way to Churchill. I was the only person who made note of this and made an official complaint to our authorities. While this incident hopefully will not repeat itself, the warning was made over public radio in the community of Ariviat which is north of us int he territory of Nunavut that this type of wasteful hunting can not continue. Myself as well as my company continue to be strong opponents of Beluga Whale hunting which still occurs in the Churchill area.

As well Mr. Sean Bobier our local Manitoba Conservation officer will also corroborate with others in the community that our Polar Bears contrary to international media reports are not in dire straights. These Polar Bears are the most researched bears on the planet.
During the Polar Bear season in the fall/winter months of October and November we are continuously in close proximity to Polar Bears. This fall alone we chased away up to 30 Polar Bears from behind our lodge. They do not scare easily except when they hear our cracker shells or bird bombs. I have on occasions seen the same bear come back to the lodge as many as 12 times.

When we approach Polar Bears as we did that day, we are well within ethical guidelines promoted by the province of Manitoba who manages and incarcerates as many as 200 Polar Bears each year who come to close to Churchill. Perhaps I could be more sensitive to our clients when considering their perspective. I have had the privilege of leading Polar Bear expeditions in the Churchill area for 28 years, and have likely seen more Polar Bears than anyone else on the planet. Considering the time that I have invested in this industry I believe I am well versed in Polar Bear behaviour.

Had your stay been a few days longer we were prepared to send you out on a second trip. That being said all of us who deal with Polar Bears are continually concerned about their welfare and would not do anything that might harm these beautiful and very unusual animals.

My best regards,

Wally Daudrich
Director
(204) 675-2969
www.lazybearlodge.com

Inquisitive

P.S.  Thank you for the question which in retrospect I realize I did not answer from your initial email.

Polar Bears are generally very inquisitive animals. When we travel alongside a Polar Bear I have two things in mind, the safety of my clients, as well as the welfare of the Bear. Our boat that we use is a custom built boat, made specifically for the conditions that we encounter during these tours. The boat that you traveled on is powered by an inboard jet drive which has no outside moving parts, as well as extra silenced mufflers so as not to scare off wildlife at idle speed. When I approach a Polar Bear, first I never loose sight of the bear, and secondly, the boat can do nothing to the bear as it is jet driven, flat bottomed, and covered with a relatively soft lining of teflon plastic on the hull of the boat. For many years we have operated and have never had an incident where a bear has been harmed.

There is no specific parameter for distance. I have included a picture of a bear which has stood against our tundra vehicle. This happens on a virually daily basis. He looks very inviting, and he is very curious. We have no specific rule of distance, so long as he is no threat to us and we are no threat to him.