NORTHERN LIGHTS AND TINY BEAR LIFE
Polar Bear Mother and Cub
I was lying down on the frozen lake waiting for the Northern Lights to appear. From time to time cracking ice broke the silence with ominous sounds from the depths of the lake. The spruce tree's high branches cast shadows as the near full moon was rising. The temperature had already fallen to at least below minus 25 degrees Celsius. Although bundled in my thermal and other cold weather garb and wearing a face mask with slits, I soon felt cold pain in my cheeks.
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| Frozen Sunset |
The aurora borealis occurs in the earth's northern hemisphere, when streamers of light appear in the magnetic polar regions. Hence the aurora phenomenon is known as the Northern Lights. The first streamers that came in my view near the lake looked like narrow long bands of white-colored wool ready to be spun. When the fluffy streamers turned greenish and disappeared, it was as though the curtain had been opened to a dance show of colorful lights. The show made me feel as though I were sitting alone in a concert hall entranced by a symphony of lights. The streamers of light flowed like a river that twisted and disappeared in the horizon, closing the curtain on a wonderful show. The best months to observe the Northern Lights in Canada are February and March when nature is likely to be most "cooperative."
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| Morris Spencer |
This is also similarly the best time to observe mother polar bears and their newly-born cubs. Canada's Wapusk National Park attracts wild life photographers to the ice fields of nearby Chesnaye to take pictures of the bears. Chesnaye is south of Churchill where the polar bears cross Hudson Bay to northern seal hunting areas in late winter. At this time the bay's ice has not yet started to melt. The only local housing facility is Wat'chee Lodge with rooms for fourteen persons. The lodge was formerly a Canadian military observation post acquired by three Canadian Indian brothers, James, Michael, and Morris. They keep it open in February and early March for bear watchers. Although their modest facility has no showers and provides only double-deck beds, it is adequate to avoid extreme cold weather.
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| Bear's Den |
In November male polar bears head for Churchill to wait for the freezing of Hudson Bay before venturing to hunt seals which are their main food. Pregnant females, however, do not join them. Instead they remain behind and dig dens along the shore where they give birth to cubs. By the following February and March even young cubs are ready to leave if their mothers had enough high calorie milk for them. Those months are the best time for observing and photographing the cubs as they leave the dens with their mothers. At this time, however, the temperatures change from day to day. Unfortunately, on the day that I arrived to see them, there was a cold wave. The temperature was minus 27 degrees Celsius while the wind chill was close to minus 60 degrees.
No one has any certainty of seeing mother bears and cubs. Nature is uncertain. Five photographers and I spent one week without any successful sightings. On our second day we could not go outdoors because a dangerous snowstorm. When the other photographers left after one week, I begged for permission to remain one extra day. James and Morris guided me that day and we left early using snowmobiles. The wind blew ice pieces that shone like diamond dust as the sun came out. Driving a snowmobile on the roadless frozen ice gave one's body a vigorous workout. My body trembled as my heart beat faster. It was difficult to find bear dens on the expansive ice field, and by now most bears had left for the frozen bay. Within in three hours the guides and I found a mother bear and cub by ten oclock in the morning. Both the mother and cub were equally surprised by this sudden encounter and were running ahead of us.
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| Northern Lights |
It was not surprising that she had only one cub. Usually a female gives birth to two or three, but all do not survive this harsh cold environment. So the female devotes her love to caring for the sole survivor. They do not separate for three years or until the cub no longer needs its mother's milk. No one knows who is the cub's male parent. Both mother and cub fear him. Males even kill cubs in order to mate with the females.
The day that we saw the mother and cub was the beginning of their trek from the nearby den that had been home for three months. They seemed to realize that we meant no harm to them. They basked all day in the warmth of the sun. The mother devoted all her attention to the cub that seemed a bit rowdy. My final words: "Grow up and come back safely."
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Wapusk National Park C/O Parks Canada, Box127, Churchill, Manitoba ROB OEO Canada Phone: 204-675-8863 Fax: 204-675-2026 wapusknp@pch.gc.ca |