Polar Bear Blog - Top Predator - August 17, 2006

This is the summer of bear! I love it! They are all over the place.

We have a couple friends up from Winnipeg for the weekend and after an awesome supper of whitefish and wildrice, we headed out for a walk to the Ithaca, our local shipwreck.

The Ithaca ran aground in September 1960 and has been rusting away ever since. Actually, it was probably rusting away for a time before it ran aground but that is another story.

So, you can walk out to the Ithaca at low-tide, a nice little stroll on the tidal flats. However, I highly recommend carrying a gun as polar bear often sleep in the hull on sunny days or wander along the edge of the water.

Last night, we had just returned from our walk, taking one last look at the Ithaca before jumping into the truck. Just in time for the sun to dip out of the clouds and highlight a lone polar bear heading towards the shipwreck. The incredible thing was that he was sniffing the ground and following our tracks almost to a tee, even places where we doubled back to avoid tidal streams, he doubled back in the hopes of a quick meal.

We watched him meander all the way to the ship and then pace back and forth trying to figure out where our scent or where his prey ended up. We would have waited until he found our trail back to the truck but tea and ginger snaps and the woodstove were waiting back at Camp Nanuq.

I have seen this before, as soon as the sun gets low enough in the sky and the first chill of dusk sets in, polar bears begin to stir and go for an evening stroll or hopefully an evening hunt. Even if the wind is too strong for them to catch your scent or even if they cannot actually see where you are, they are still capable of finding your trail on the ground. Once they do, their 'Terminator'-like determination sets in and they will follow it to the bitter end.

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