We had a three bear breakfast this morning.  Three different bears were visible from different parts of the lodge.  There was a little one right outside the dining room, a large one to the north (a little further away), and the one referred to as “Two Tags” near the front door, east of the lodge.  We had breakfast with Neil, Denice, and Glo, but we kept stopping to take photos and/or look out the window every time one of the bears got up and moved around.

Right after breakfast a bear approached the little one that was sleeping right outside the dining room.  Since it approached from downwind, the little bear had no idea someone was coming until it was just 5-10 meters away.  The little bear was spooked, running off to the north, and the larger bear took the comfy sleeping spot for a bit, then headed right next to the dining room, and specifically right next to one of the viewing platforms.  Justin and a small handful of people fit on the platform, and people took turns being the closest to the bear, with Boomer ensuring no one got too close to the fence.  The larger bear then took off after the smaller one it had spooked earlier, and the little one wanted no part of this, moving ever-increasingly fast to the north.

Meanwhile, two other bears had approached the Lodge from the south, heading straight for the front door.  We went out into the front enclosure and watched as they passed right by, with one doing a complete lap around the Lodge’s fenceline.  75 minutes had elapsed since we were supposed to go out for a walk, but we never left the lodge because the bears kept coming to us.  Around 10:45 one of the guides, Jess, gave us a presentation on Polar Bears.  We took some notes, and here is what we took down:

• Their scientific name is Ursus maritimus (maritimus because they spend an inordinate amount of time out on the ice and water, and are accordingly thought of as a “water” bear) 
• In fact, in the United States they are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act
• Bears are a dog-like Carnivore (which makes sense to us, since they look and act like big dogs in our opinion)
• Polar Bears diverged from Brown Bears around 150k years ago
• There are lots of Polar Bear fossils at the bottom of the ocean, since they often die on the ice during winter, and when the ice melts in the spring and summer, their remains sink to the bottom of the ocean
• There used to be 19 sub-populations of bears around the Arctic, but there are now considered to be 20, with the newest sub-population in southeast Greenland, in a location with no sea ice
• 13 of the 20 sub-populations are in Canada
• Churchill is within the Western Hudson Bay sub-population
• Overall, as of 2018, there was an estimated population of 25-30k Polar Bears in the world 

• They swim at 10km per hour, using just their front paws
• Hudson Bay, due to its massive size, creates an Arctic climate even though it is further south than most other territories for Polar Bears
• There are a number of river inlets into Hudson Bay around Churchill, and since fresh water freezes at a higher temperature than salt water, the area around Churchill is one of the first to get ice in the fall - hence the high population of polar bears in the vicinity this time of year
• Polar Bears’ giant feet act like snowshoes, lowering the pressure as they walk on top of thin ice
• They have a third eyelid that theoretically helps with snow blindness, and maybe also helps when swimming
• Their claws are not for digging, but instead more for grabbing and pounding - giant meat hooks, if you will
• Their hairs are clear and hollow - this reflects all of the colors in the UV spectrum, making it “seem” white
• Underneath all of their hair, their skin is black
• Polar Bears have relatively smaller ears, legs, and tails than other bears, as a smaller surface area means less area for heat loss
• There are 4 nipples on Polar Bears, whereas there are 6 on Grizzly Bears

• Male Polar Bears have guard hairs on the back of their front legs, and this is to attract females
• Males generally have twice the weight of females, with most adult males weighing between 400-600 kg
• The largest recorded Polar Bear was in Alaska, and weighed 1000 kg
• Male Polar Bears are sexually mature at age 6, but normally don’t mate until around 8-10
• Scarring on male Polar Bears’ faces indicates they’ve been fighting for females
• Male ears tend to “fall down” the side of their head as they age, as their skulls get progressively larger
• Ring seals are Polar Bears’ main food source
• Specifically, Ring Seal pups are the main food source, as they are basically helpless
• Arctic foxes follow behind Polar Bears for scraps, kind of like jackals following behind lions
• Polar Bear pups are born around New Year’s Day, but they come out of their den in spring
• Mating season is also in the spring
• They mate repeatedly, and mating induces females to release an egg 
• Females can have multiple cubs from multiple males at the same time [although not more than 4, obviously, as they have only 4 nipples]
• Females are sexually mature at age 4, but normally they have their first cubs after age 5

• There is not much food in summer (as the sea ice has melted), so males lose about 1 pound a day and females (who are feeding pups) lose about 2 pounds a day
• That being said, recently there has been numerous recorded instances of polar bears hunting beluga whales during summer; they wait on rocks, jump on a whale, and attempt to damage the whale’s melon
• This works about 1 in 10 times, but takes relatively little energy, and accordingly is worth the risk
• Beluga whale hunting might also explain why there are relatively so many more Polar Bears so much further south, around Churchill, than in other spots 
• It is common to see multiple bears sharing a beluga whale kill
• Bears start to get a bit more energetic in the fall, as the ice starts to form [That theoretically should have been happening right around our arrival, but was delayed this year]
• The maternity dens are further south (down by Nanuk, the second lodge we were going to visit), often inland, where there is a bit more dirt and where there is no permafrost
• Ben, the Lodge Manager, has seen lots of dens, and in his experience reality is not at all like what is described in textbooks
• The textbooks say dens are mostly/always on a south slope (protected from prevailing winds) in a peat bank, but Ben has seen wildly different types of dens
• Winter is tough for Polar Bears, because the weather is the harshest and the seal pups haven’t been born yet, so all of the bears are wandering around on ice, searching for adult seals
• Baby Polar Bears are so tiny (600 grams, so just over a pound) that you’d never know if a female is pregnant 
• Roughly 2/3 of all litters are twins, 1/3 of litters are single cubs, with the occasional triplets and negligible amount of quadruplets
• Polar Bears have a 50% mortality rate in the first year; of those that make it to their first birthday, 50% don’t make it to adulthood - so overall, only 1 in 4 make it to adulthood 
• They don’t need to drink much, as they get water from the seal blubber

Jess told us that there would be a test later in the trip.  At first we thought she was kidding, but then it became clear she was not.  After her presentation, we had about an hour before lunch.  Crystal read whilst Justin went through the photos from yesterday.  We had lunch with Michel, Catherine, and Jess.  Jess moved to New Zealand at age 3, Brisbane at age 6, and has spent the last dozen or so years working at ski lodges in Canada, guiding here at Churchill, and spending the (Northern) winter season guiding in Antarctica.  We told her it seemed like she doesn’t like being around cities, and she concurred.  Lunch was spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread.  We had another hour-long break after lunch, with Justin going through the photos some more, and Crystal reading some more.  

At 14:15, we regrouped and headed out on a walk.  We saw tundra swans a couple different times.  South of the lodge there were two bears right near one another, both grazing like cows, and almost never lifting their heads to take note of us.  We went down onto a flat, marshy area, which the guides referred to as the “Manitoba Golf Course.”  While the ground is flat, there are rocks and boulders everywhere.  The reason for this is that these rocks were left behind from glacial activity during the ice ages - when the glaciers and ice sheets melted, rocks that had been trapped in the ice kind of just went everywhere.  

Down on the golf course we saw a large male, which the guides did not recognize, so they made sure we gave him an especially wide berth.  When he realized we were in the vicinity, he didn’t care at all, which the guides told us was a good sign.  We saw an Arctic Hare by some rocks, no doubt wondering why we realized he (or maybe she) was there.  Arctic Hares change coats during the year, and by late October they are bright white for camouflage, only it hadn’t snowed yet, so he was bright white against a bunch of earth tones.

We heard on the radio (from the staff back at the Lodge) that there was a wolf further south, so we all perked up and all looked in vain.  But in looking for the wolf, we saw another bear up on the ridge, and the guides were excited because it was Tripod.  Most of the bears don’t have names, but she is special (and easy to recognize) because she’s missing her back right foot, presumably from a crushing incident of some sort.  She walks okay, and since bears swim with only their front legs, her injury is not a big deal for that either.  There’s an open question as to her ability to raise cubs, and we’ll see what the future holds.  There’s another question as to whether she can do “mousing” like the bear yesterday.

We didn’t want to walk up the embankment without knowing which of the 4 bears known to be in the area were right at the top, so we stayed down in the lower area and got closer to the hare.  Whilst at the hare, the big male started to come down the hill, so we had to all turn around in formation.  Someone commented “watch out for the hare behind you,” which got a chuckle from most of the group.  When the big male walked a little further away, we turned back around, towards the hare.  The guides told us that they have black ears for (limited) heat absorption when it is sunny during winter.  They can see almost 360 degrees without having to move their heads.

After leaving the hare we went up the hill to the gravel road, then got out of Tripod’s way as she went down the hill.  Interestingly, sometimes she puts weight on her stump, and it looks like she’s stretching when she does this.  We started making our way back towards the Lodge and we saw a group of Ptarmigans near the road to the runway.  They are polar birds that are mostly white, and they have stocky furry legs.  As we watched them, we received the first snow of the year, albeit a relatively insignificant amount.  

At Happy Hour, Boomer showed Justin how to remove bars from photos using Photoshop.  This is a common issue at Seal River, as many photos are taken from inside the fence, and the fencing can be a bit of a distraction.  Boomer commented that by contrast, it also demonstrates close proximity and a sense of intimacy.  We had dinner with Glo, Michel, and Catherine.  We found out that Glo sold almost all of her things recently, and has been traveling around the globe for weeks with the proceeds.  She discussed Ladakh and Tibet among other travels.  The table discussed searching for tigers in India, searching for pumas in Torres del Paine, visiting festivals in India, a gypsy festival we hadn’t heard of in Saintes Maries de la Mer in Southern France, and plenty of other topics (mostly travel-related).  

After dinner we went back into the lounge, where we heard a familiar sound, the “ding'' of Duolingo.  We determined it was coming from Lin’s mobile phone, and Justin and Lin discussed Duolingo for a bit whilst Crystal read.  Later the two of us had a discussion with Ken and Cathy about healthcare in the US and in Canada, and also how email voting is possible for US citizens living outside the US (something we’ll hopefully be using soon).  We were back in the room by 21:30, and called it a (relatively) early night.