Hoare Bay, Baffin Island - August 13, 2013
Today we continued our journey north alongside the Cumberland Peninsula section of Baffin Island. As we made our way up to the Arctic Circle we started to find polar bears. Between Hoare Bay and Cape Dyer there was some residual sea ice where we found many bears. We did not just stumble upon the sea ice. It was actually a calculated course that we were on based upon sea ice charts published by the Canadian Ice Service. Our expedition had another ship office, Ray Jourdain from Quebec, who is an ice specialist. He advised our ship's captain, Oliver Kneuss, about conditions throughout the trip. One tool Ray used was the ice charts that are available for Canadian waters. More details on ice later, today we will enjoy polar bears!
Map with Hoare Bay showing where we found sea ice
Map of Canadian Waters showing ice conditions on 8/28/13
Patch of sea ice in Hoare Bay
Before reaching the patch of sea ice we found this bear precariously perched on an iceberg. The first image gives you a sense of his surroundings. The second image shows a close up view of his ice floe.
Where to next?
Where's my ice?
There are approximately 125,000 polar bears resident in the Arctic. A popular misconception is that polar bears and penguins live together, but my students quickly learn that penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere with majority in Antarctica. Polar bears weigh approximately 1.25 pounds at birth and are born during the winter when the mother is hibernating. They quickly gain weight with a male reaching 1800 pounds (800 kg) and a mature female weighs 660 pounds (300 kg). A female generally gives birth to twins and they will stay with the mother for the first couple of years. Polar bears start to reproduce around 6 to 7 years.
Male Bear up near ship
Closing in on polar bear with the cameras
Three male bears came right up to our boat to visit and check us out for quite awhile. We knew that was a rare event when our seasoned naturalists on the boat were as giddy as us.
Swimming to check us out
Jumping around on sea ice
The polar bears will roll around on the ice and snow to clean their fur. It reminded me of my dogs at home. One of the males had a scar on his face from a previous skirmish with another male. During their visit to the boat, one male snapped at another and drew some blood from his hindquarters. It was another demonstration that "Polar bears are NOT cuddly," as I used to tell my students.
Polar bear grooming
Close up view of scars on face
Just Chillin'
I hope you enjoyed our first bears as much as we did.