This morning began with a flurry of activity. This will be my seventeenth Gordon Point to Cape Churchill expedition. The day dawns with a beautiful sunrise and polar bears are dotted around the Tundra Buggy lodge. The clear skies from the night before have given way to the regions typical blanket of clouds. They’re thick, heavy and reminiscent of a mantle the early trappers referred to as a Hudson Bay blanket. Out on the edge between the horizon and the clouds is a sliver of sky and it’s here that the sun breaks free, shafts of golden light bouncing off the land and upper ceiling, polar bears rimmed with the glowing arctic light.

We’re headed for Cape Churchill, the land of polar bears and ice. Why have I been coming here for the past nearly twenty years? It’s simple. The scenery is stunning. The habitat surreal. When you see the ice and snow these magnificent 1200 pound animals live in you fall in love. No other spot on the planet known to man is as accessible for studying polar bears. It’s a gift from the animal world and essential part of why humans feel such a fondness for this majestic species. Nearly all the worlds polar bear pictures come from this area and Cape Churchill is part of a National Park called Wapusk. The ability to come here to study these animals as well as document their lives has been exceptionally beneficial for the arctic overall. The polar bear has fast become the global icon for climate change and people stop to listen when they hear polar bears will be so seriously effected.

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