Arctic #3

Arctic #3 -- Monday Aug.26
Weather: raining, windy (flag straight out) and 10 Celcius.
Morning activity: A three hour bus tour of the area. We went to one spot where two fellows with rifles guarded us while we were out of the bus. Didn't see any bears. But there are four in "jail". They have a huge building with 23 cells. The bears are released in there from the bear traps which are similar to what we use for blacks and grizzlies but larger. As soon as possible they are sedated and flown north about 50 km in the direction of their normal migration route. Some come back again of course. We were not allowed inside.This jail has resulted in few bears needing to be killed.
Vegetation: scrub willow, fireweed, black spruce, flowers (but the season is almost over)and lots of berry bushes. The Canada geese eat the berries as do the snow geese. Only difference is that the snow geese also pull up the roots so destroy their food source. We saw both.The Canada geese are also on the railway eating the dropped grain.
Downtown: Had a quick tour and then had less than half an hour to shop. Got into a gorgeous arts and crafts place. Samara, your otter painter's stuff was in there -- all new to me designs. Good thing I didn't have time to spend or I would have spent!
Afternoon activity: Zodiac ride to look at the belugas close up. Wow! There are 3,000 in the area (this is called beluga season whereas Oct/Nov is called polar bear season. They were all around us. Couldn't get much in the way of pictures as the stiff wind was blowing the rain into us. I came back wet from the hips down as I was sitting in water as well as it falling on me. My top was dry despite the rain and ocean spray. Those are super jackets.
I would love to have walked into town this afternoon but don't want to get more clothes wet. It's about 20 min away on a gravel road. And, as I said, the wind is quite wicked today.
Bear safety: It's safe to walk around town during the day as there are constant bear patrols along the perimeter. But at night it is a different matter. Our guide said that the worst problems seem to start on Halloween.The reason the bears congregate in this area is because several rivers empty into the sea here and so the ice forms early due to it being less salty. They then can get out hunting seals sooner.
Churchill: It is at the juncture of three ecosystems -- boreal forest, tundra and Hudson Bay. 45% of the population is non-native, 33% Chipewyan and Cree, 16% Metis and 5.5% Inuit. About 800 people live here.