My Travel Tales

The Journey Continues At Home

December 29, 2008 · Leave a Comment

It’s always an adjustment when the back-to-back travel ends and I find myself at home for an extended period of time (longer than a week or two). Putting the suitcase away and unpacking the toiletries is the final concession that I’m staying put for a while. . . NOW what do I do?

I try to get back into my daily routines: wake up early, go for a run on the beach, go to the office, have dinner with friends, go to a concert. It takes a while to settle in and I find myself missing the airplanes, taxis, new restaurants, different experiences, and meeting new people. It takes a lot of will-power to not just jump on the next plane to Kauai, San Francisco, or Vegas, or hop in the car and drive to San Diego (although any number of those things may happen within the next week). Thankfully, there’s plenty of adventure at home!

Mile 6

I’ve been home for 3 weeks now – quite possibly the longest stretch I’ve gone without traveling this year – and have had several fun journeys. It’s been a nice reminder that I can travel in my own city. Earlier this month I ran the Pasadena Half Marathon with my good friend, Jen. I haven’t been to Pasadena in years and forgot how simply going to another community can feel like a vacation! First, we ran through the beautiful tree-lined streets, passing by some magnificent homes. The colors of the leaves had changed and there was evidence that we actually do experience “seasons” in LA. It felt like we were in New England, only warmer.

The second third of the course was spent on dirt trails in the hills. You can truly get lost in the mountains and forget that you’re anywhere near a city. There was one hill that was long and steep. Most people walked it (myself included) and many were out of breath at the top. I couldn’t help but laugh when we arrived at the top of the hill to find a sign marked “Devil’s Gate.” We hit the pavement again for the last portion of the course. Crossing the finish line was fantastic because it signaled the end of the run… and the beginning of breakfast!

The Getty - sometimes it's too nice to inside!

The following weekend my friends Juston and Laura came to town. We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon up at The Getty. Juston and Laura are both artists so I felt inclined to warn them that while we have every intention of going inside the museum, many visits to The Getty are spent entirely outdoors. They chuckled (perhaps in disbelief) and said, “well, of course we’ll go inside!” But we began our adventure outdoors, walking the gardens, admiring the way the buildings “framed” LA perfectly, looking at the ocean on one side of the property and snow on the mountains on the other side. We ate brunch and then attempted to go inside the museum. We were in one building for a few minutes, then another, and then Laura said,”you know, it’s so nice outside, I feel like we should be soaking up the sun!” And so, as most days at The Getty are spent, we ventured back outside, sat on the grass, watched kids roll down hills and scale walls, while we caught up and took in the view.

Sunbathing pelican in Newport

And finally, last weekend my friend Heather and I planned a mini-vacation. She lives in San Diego so we met in Newport Beach, half-way between Santa Monica beach and Mission Beach. We spent the day at the beach, bouncing between restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and bakeries, with outdoor seating. It was so warm and beautiful that we had to keep reminding each other that it was December 28th.

Ben Harper at The Mint, Hollywood

In between all of that was a bunch of live music. From Ben Harper at The Mint to Ozomatli at House of Blues, to Hotel Cafe family reunions and holiday shows. . . it’s been a non-stop adventure since I returned home!

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Tagged: Ben Harper, Half marathon, Newport Beach, Ozomatli, Pasadena, The Getty

Taking Action for Polar Bears

December 9, 2008 · Leave a Comment

My Arctic Adventures Blog featured on MySpace

I woke up this morning to an email from MySpace – they’re featuring my blog on their Our Planet channel: http://www.myspace.com/ourplanet. Many thanks to MySpace for sharing these stories and helping spread awareness about polar bears and how we can all help preserve the Arctic region.

Also, big thanks to Chuck (Dr. Jonkel), Shannon, Matt and everyone at The Great Bear Foundation for the amazing experience and sharing their wealth of knowledge.

The main reason I spent 8 days on planes, buses, and trains, traveling to the Arctic was to experience first-hand the affects of climate change on polar bears and Arctic ecology. It seems awareness of climate change has increased and more and more people know that the survival of polar bears is threatened, but it can still feel like “a problem over there” — not part of our day to day consciousness. I don’t believe this is malicious, it just isn’t top-of-mind for many people, most of the time. I live in LA where it’s 73 degrees and beautiful almost every day of the year. It’s hard to expect everyone in LA to think about ice caps melting and polar bears heading toward extinction, on a day to day basis. People all over the world are consumed with their own survival, happiness, and daily responsibilities – global warming is not top-of-mind, even though they’re aware of it.

The thing to remember is that it’s all connected. The way we live, wherever we live, has an impact on the environment as a whole, which in turn has an impact on us. Dr. Jonkel (Chuck) reminded us that people are wasting time debating whether Global Warming is something people are causing or just “part of mother nature’s natural cycle.” He encouraged us to recognize that both points of view are valid – some of the climate change we see is mother nature “doing her thing” AND some of it is caused or accelerated by what we’re doing. All Chuck asked of us is that we help the part that we can control – the impact we have on the earth and the things we can do to minimize that.

Several groups have put together lists of simple steps to combat global warming in our everyday life. Stop Global Warming has a great list: http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_actionitems.asp

The NRDC is also doing work on climate change: http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/default.asp

Global Warming Solution is a Missoula, Montana based organization founded by a Great Bear alum. Their executive summary is really helpful:

http://www.globalwarmingsolution.org/pdf/Summary.pdf

Global Warming Initiatives, Inc is a really cool company that helps businesses to reduce their carbon footprint while at the same time saving money on energy efficiency:

http://www.gwi-nc.org/

The lists of simple steps are great in that they are easy to achieve and anybody can do things like switch to energy efficient light bulbs, etc. And if we get enough people to do these things, we can make a difference.

We can also support initiatives like the Western Climate Change Initiative:

http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org/

This is an alliance of seven western states and two canadian provinces working on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We can pressure our schools, workplaces, and local and state governments to conduct greenhouse gas inventories, to determine how much impact they are having and how they can reduce that impact. It often saves money in the long run on energy costs.

The bumper sticker, “think globally, act locally” has never meant as much as it does today. The average meal travels 1,500 miles to our dinner plates, consuming fossil fuels for transport, processing, refrigeration, etc. One of the biggest changes we can make in our everyday lives is to buy locally, eat locally, and eat seasonally. By gardening or participating in CSA’s, we not only reduce the fossil fuels used to feed ourselves, but the plants we grow also help to produce clean air and to sequester carbon. Can or dry the extra food from your harvest, and you can eat your bounty year round. Grow squashes, potatoes, and other hardy vegetables that can grow late in the season and keep throughout the winter.

Chuck would say that one of the most important things we can do is to raise awareness of the polar regions. There are few people living up there, and their voices are rarely heard. Most people think of the north as a barren waste of ice. The more people learn about the Arctic, the more they will care about it. That’s the point of Chuck’s “Learning to Talk Arctic” lecture. As people become more familiar with the polar regions, they will care more.

I fell in love with polar bears during this trip. I stood 30 feet away from them and watched in awe as they played, searched for alternative food sources, and walked across the ice with power and grace. I think about them every time I put gas in my car or ask a business to turn off the air conditioning when it’s cold outside (and inside). I think about the collective positive impact we can have by taking simple steps in our own lives and educating (and sometimes pressuring) business owners to make positive changes. And then I do everything I can to help ensure the survival of polar bears and make a positive impact on the Earth.

Curious Bear

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Tagged: Arctic, Climate Change, Ecology, global warming, Global Warming Initiatives, Global Warming Solution, Great Bear, MySpace, NRDC, Our Planet, Polar Bears, Stop Global Warming, Western Climate Change Initiative

Counting Shooting Stars: Big Sur

December 2, 2008 · 1 Comment

Sunset in Big Sur, November 29 2008

For all the good times, defining moments, and magical experiences I’ve had (and there have been many), it’s always a blessing when another comes along. I just returned from a long weekend in Big Sur. It’s been tradition during the past 3 Thanksgiving weekends to drive up the coast and attend my friend Shiva’s yoga retreat. It’s something I look forward to every year. But this year, having literally just returned from back-to-back trips to the Arctic and Turks & Caicos, I actually considered not going. I wasn’t sure I felt up to more travel and was enjoying my time at home. I also felt completely relaxed and re-treated (or so I thought).

Thankfully I listened to the other voice in my head – the one that reminded me how important it is to disconnect from the phone, computer, and daily routines, and to reconnect with myself, friends, and a more natural rhythm of life.

I drove up the coast Friday morning and was immediately at ease, with the ocean by my side the entire way. I turned my phone off before I officially went off the grid and dropped completely into the experience. Life still happens without a phone – in fact, it happens without interruption. I took my time driving up the coast and found a little beach town to get lost in along the way.

Saloon in my newly discovered beach town

The town had one main street, only 5 blocks long. There was an old saloon and a restaurant that looked like a pirate ship. I ate lunch at the pirate ship restaurant, and sat on the upstairs deck outside, overlooking the ocean. The town was simple and charming – if I ever dissapear, it’s possible I took up residence there.

Elephant seals sunning themselves

As I continued driving I noticed an Elephant Seal viewing area on the side of Highway 1. In the dozen times I’ve made this drive previously, I never noticed this turn-off. It’s easier to pay attention without the cell phone! I pulled over and checked out the elephant seals. They can weigh up to 2 tons and are NOT pretty animals. It was odd to see all these huge beasts lying on the beach – they looked almost prehistoric. There was one little, white seal who was loving the sun and appeared to be smiling as she scratched her head with her fin and then settled back to sleep – she was pretty cute.

I arrived at the retreat center around 3:30 and went straight into the hot springs. The hot springs overlook the ocean and provide instant relaxation. As it turned out, all my friends decided to take a leisurely drive up to Big Sur, so we all arrived “late” (between 4 and 6pm instead of 2pm). With no phones, we just trusted we’d find each other there whenever we all arrived. And of course we did. We connected at dinner and then went dancing in the dance dome. After we finished dancing we each picked up an instrument (my friends provided the live music) and started jamming. We were just playing, free-form and having so much fun. I looked around at this group of 10 particular friends I hadn’t seen in a few months and just smiled. It felt like home to be reunited. Also, while this was billed as a “yoga retreat,” this group of friends inherently makes the dynamic more of a party. Y’know when you have a friend who you have too much fun with (not that there is such a thing); that person whose eyes light up when he looks at you and says “uh oh, trouble is here!”? Well, there were 10 of us who feel that way about each other so needless to say we had a lot of fun! After dancing and our impropmtu jam session, we went back down to the hot springs for a couple hours (they’re open 24-hours). We caught up and relaxed some more.

Saturday was probably my favorite day of the retreat (although they were all fantastic) and one of the most fulfilling nights of my life so far. We had a wonderful breakfast, practiced yoga, ate lunch, and then went down to the beach. There was a 4-6pm yoga workshop and session but none of us ended up going. Some went surfing, some went to the tubs, some of us just sat on the deck and watched the sunset. We reconnected at dinner and had some wine. At 7:00pm I headed down to the massage room for one of their signature massages, with the sound of the ocean waves crashing all around me. When I emerged from the massage room our yoga group was in an enclosed room with hot tubs, candles lit, singing. The acoustics were phenomenal. Now comes the really good part…

Counting Shooting Stars

Ambika, Joey, Kishan, Janet, Kristin, and I gathered in another room on the property, sat in a circle and caught up for a little while. We laughed and plotted our night’s activities – sleep was NOT on the agenda. After everybody else went to bed, the 6 of us returned to the hot tubs, reunited with our other friend Matt, and soaked for a couple hours. At about 2am Ambika and I went upstairs to the deck, pushed a couple massage tables together, laid down, and looked up at the stars. There were no city lights obstructing the view and so many stars that it almost looked like there was more light than darkness. And then we saw a shooting star. “Let’s count shooting stars!” I said and Ambika agreed.

We turned it into a game, keeping track of how many shooting stars each of us saw. After about an hour (and 7 shooting stars later), our friends Janet and Matt came up and joined us. “What are you guys doing?” Matt asked.

“We’re counting shooting stars,” I replied.

“We’re not just counting them,” Ambika elaborated. “It’s a game – we’re keeping track of how many each of us has seen.”

“Ambika has 4 and I have 3,” I said.

“There’s one!!!!” exclaimed Matt.

Soon, the score was: Ambika 7, Colette 6, Janet 2, Matt 1. Then our friend Joey joined us, which required adding one more massage table to our star gazing station. We explained the game to him and before long Joey had seen 2 shooting stars himself. Finally, we heard “awwww, wow…. what’s going on here?” as Kishan approached. He took a picture of us (which I’ll post when he sends it to me).

At one point security came by and shined a flashlight on us. “What are you doing?” the guard asked.

“We’re counting shooting stars,” I replied. Not the answer he was expecting…

“Oh wow! That’s really cool!” he said. “Ok, you can stay here and stargaze. Just don’t fall asleep here.”

The final score was Colette 11, Ambika 10, Janet 5, Joey 2, Matt 1. This is one of my most favorite moments in life so far (and not because I won “the game”). To be able to lie down, look at the sky and count shooting stars is so simple, beautiful, fun, and fulfilling. Everybody should do it! And if you can do it with a handful of close friends, it’s even better. It felt familiar as if I’d done it once before when I was a little girl (but I don’t think I have done it before). It made us all feel like kids. At one point Matt said, “This is a dream, but it isn’t a dream. This is amazing!” It felt like we were characters in a fairy tale. Many of our adventures involve travel to foreign countries, all-night parties, long hikes, or some involved plan. It was a striking contrast to have so much fun and hear so many giggles engaging in the simplicity of counting shooting stars.

“We have to come here every year. This is our thing. We created ‘a thing’ and it’s important that we always come back here together and share moments like these,” Joey said.

And we will.

Eventually, we made our way back to our rooms – the sun was about to rise and put a damper on our shooting star game and we had about 4 hours to sleep before our morning yoga practice.

Hot springs tub overlooking the ocean

Sunday was another beautiful day. It felt like summer, clear skies and warm – rare for late-November in Big Sur. We had brunch after yoga and then made our way back to the tubs. Our Sunday departure tradition for the past 3 years has been to spend the day in the tubs and leave in the evening after most of the holiday traffic has died down. At one point Daphne and I were discussing options during Labor Day weekend 2009 – Burning Man, Spirit Bear trip in British Columbia, or a trip to the South of France. “Well, it’s a win-win-win decision,” I said.

“And look where we’re sitting now,” Daphne reminded me as we soaked in hot tubs, suspended above the ocean.

Message written in stone

Another great part about the weekend was this place on the property where somebody left messages written with rocks. The messages were updated several times daily. They were messages written in stone, yet not “written in stone.” And if you didn’t pay attention, you may miss a subtle change. It said “Like fixes like” for a few hours one day and then it switched to “Life fixes life.” The night we did our stargazing, the sign said “Starlight” with an arrow pointing over the ocean. You could never take for granted that the sign would be the same and you never knew when it would be updated. There was no “schedule” that sign changed and it may have changed more frequently than we even observed. Nobody saw the sign being updated (even in broad daylight), it just seemed to “happen” and the message was always perfect. As I was leaving Sunday, the sign changed again. “I’ll miss you”

Sunset from the deck in front of our room

View of sunset from our room

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Tagged: Adventure, Big sur, play, retreat, Shooting stars, sunset, yoga

Learning About Polar Bears With Ian Stirling

November 26, 2008 · 1 Comment

Mid-way through our stay in Churchill we discovered that Ian Stirling was coming to town and would be giving a lecture on polar bears and climate change the night we were scheduled to return home. This was one of those moments you’re thrilled that your train is 7 hours delayed! Ian Stirling is a renowned scientist who has been studying polar bears and Arctic ecology for more than 30 years. Thanks to train delays, we were able to attend Ian’s lecture. When Ian saw Chuck in the audience he told a story about how Chuck once led him into a bear den… while the bear was still in the den.

Here are some video clips (2 parts) of the lecture. These are some general facts about polar bears, their reproductive cycles, and their place in the food chain.

Ian Stirling Lecture Part 1

Ian Stirling Lecture Part 2

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Tagged: Arctic, Churchill, Climate Change, Ian Stirling, Polar Bears, Ring seals

Videos: Hanging Out With Polar Bears

November 24, 2008 · Leave a Comment

These videos were taken during our second to last polar bear outing. Prior to this day, it was 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit which was too warm for the ice to form and move to the shore of The Hudson Bay. Polar bears rely on this ice so they can go out and hunt. Thankfully, as we were leaving Churchill a cold storm moved in. Locals were enthusiastic and hopeful that this storm would finally bring the ice to shore so the bears could eat. The bear’s hunting season is getting shorter each year – the ice shelf forming later and breaking up an average of 2-3 weeks earlier than it used to.

The first video shows a polar bear seemingly walking with a destination in mind, but he stops for a playful time out before continuing on his way.

The next video shows a bear shielding himself during a windstorm and 19 degrees below temperatures!

We only saw one mother bear with a cub during our trip. And days when we saw 8 bears, we should have seen 20-30 bears according to Dr. Jonkel (”Chuck”) who has been leading this trip for 25 years. Chuck made sure we understood this is not a good sign. It’s not only further evidence that the polar bear population is decreasing, but indicates that reproduction is decreasing as well.

So, what can we do? That’s coming next!

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Tagged: Arctic, Churchill, Climate Change, global warming, Polar Bears

Learning How To Talk Arctic

November 21, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Several people have asked where I was, geographically, during the polar bear trip. It’s hard for most people to picture how far North we were. Our location in Churchill, Manitoba (on the Hudson Bay) is important because this is where the ice forms earliest. The bears rely on the formation of the ice shelf so they can go out and hunt. So the bears come here first to await the formation of the sea ice. It’s also important because there are some pending international decisions that affect this region. Here’s a map to give a better sense of where we were and how this plays into foreign policy that affects the polar bears:

Churchill, Manitoba

On the evening of November 12th, following a day of Arctic adventure and spotting bears, Dr. Charles Jonkel (”Chuck”) taught us about the relevance of where we were sitting and some critical changes and decisions that will affect the polar bears.

Chuck explained that the Polar Basin is actually quite small. We need to do more than we’re doing now to preserve the ecology here. We need to increase awareness and let people know how to impact positive change. The polar bear is particularly vulnerable. It’s a rare example of a terrestrial animal that lives on a food source under the ice – the ringed seal. The polar bear is an animal that depends on 2 totally different environments to survive, which makes it vulnerable in 2 ways: threats to its environment and threats to the environment of its food chain.

Chuck spoke about the crucial stretch of the Northwest Passage, which was blocked for 65,000- 100,000 years with old ice, unusable. About 15 years ago Americans discovered the Northwest Passage. Canada claims the Northwest Passage (including Hudson Bay) belongs to them, but this is in dispute with other countries that border these waters including America and Russia. The ice in the Northwest Passage melted out 3 summers ago, bringing Asia and North America 2,000-4,000 miles closer (because now we can cut straight through, instead of having to go around). This will have a huge impact on shipping industries, importing and exporting. Now there’s major money involved and countries are battling over this region. There are no treaties governing the area yet, but they will be written and countries will be fighting for control. It’s important that we understand the politics at play here because the countries that border this region will have tremendous impact on the Arctic ecology (for better or worse).

Other information Chuck shared with us during this lecture are:

It’s harder for bears to get to their food source (seals) in Alaska now. Cubs and moms can’t swim 100-125 miles. Jonkel thinks it’s possible there will be no more bears in Alaska in 5 years.
The bear population is decreasing in Churchill as well. 10 years ago we would have seen 35 bears today. We saw bears today, but not 35 (approx 8).
Last June Russia started drilling off-shore. They hired a company to teach them how to do it (”a non-conscious French company”). They turned down an offer from Chevron who was trying to teach them responsible ways to drill. Instead, they’re working with people who are not concerned about protecting the ecology.
Fishing boats are coming in and competing with the polar bear’s foodchain. Millions of dollars are involved in shipping areas so there’s going to be a big fight if we want to regulate this to help preserve the environment.
Greenland is 5 times as big as Montana, with 2 miles thick of ice. The ice is melting. Greenland controls what happens with continental glaciacian. We’re at the tail end of the 4^th continental ice age. There could be a 5^th one. Greenland is functioning as a thermostat – could trigger a 5^th ice age.

Chuck suggested we continue to learn about this region and pending policies that impact it. He prompted us to write letters to the Russian and Canadian governments. If nothing else, LEARN about it. Chuck said the reason he was “teaching us to talk Arctic” is because when people hear something they don’t understand, they tend to tune it out. He wants us to be familiar with the region, the terminology, the animal and plant life so that we can participate in the discussion.

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Tagged: Canada, Churchill, Climate Change, Education, global warming, Hudson Bay, Polar Bears

Filling In The Blanks – More Arctic Adventures

November 18, 2008 · Leave a Comment

November 16, 2008

We’ve just begun the long journey home. We’re currently on hour 8 of our 29-hour train ride. There are so many details and stories that didn’t get covered in the previous blog entries.

Dr. Charles Jonkel and Me, Missoula Montana Nov 18

One thing that’s clear is that we’ve all become family. It was evident when we joined another group of individual travelers on a tour the other day. Our group entered and immediately the woman from Polar Bears International said, “you guys have really been traveling together. You’re yelling at each other (in a fun way), teasing, laughing, and so comfortable together.” And when we boarded the train late last night I looked around at the few of us who have become a micro-family and said, “we’re gonna miss each other. “ Brandon replied, “Yeah, I didn’t think it would be possible.” And everybody laughed. He went on to explain that when he met everyone initially he thought, “ok, cool. They’re all right.” But as we spent the week together, in crazy travel circumstances, and experiencing the world of polar bears, we truly became family. That, of course, includes the whacky aunt and occasional person yu wish hadn’t married into the family. But everybody’s unique personality is what made the group dynamic work.

The other thing that’s unique about this trip and supports that “family” dynamic is that we ate every meal together. I’m not sure how many families do that anymore, but it’s a powerful reminder of how important that time is. We ate in a dining room, no TVs, no computers, no cell phones (they wouldn’t have worked anyway) – just people sharing their experiences, making each other laugh, and racing each other to the best desserts.

Looking for tundra berries in the snow

Anyway, more about our adventures in Churchill: There was one day when the weather wasn’t conducive to seeing polar bears. It was snowing, with 30 mph winds and near white out conditions. When the weather gets like this, the bears hunker down and sleep, conserving energy and hoping that the cold front is enough to bring on the sea ice. Now, if the polar bears think it’s a good idea to curl up and sleep all day, you’d think the people may follow their cue. But no, we’re a little bit nuts and Chuck took us out for a walk in the forest. We dug down through about 2 feet of snow to find tundra berries and other vegetation. It was 9 degrees below zero and pretty damn cold. But Chuck wanted us to learn about the vegetation, what the Arctic critters eat and how they gather their food through the snow. This past year saw a plentiful production of berries and a lot of snow. So, instead of being buried under the permafrost, where the animals couldn’t reach them, there are plenty of berries accessible this season. That’s good news for the terrestrial animals of the Arctic.

Kelly playing in the snow

It seemed like we were the only people crazy enough to be outside in this weather. The roads were empty. There was a moment when I’m sure everybody was re-considering why we were outside instead of sipping hot chocolate back at the research center. But before you can even verbalize that thought, you remember that you traveled to the Arctic – you didn’t come here for hot chocolate and warm weather. And at that moment, everybody started falling backwards into the snow. It’s an amazing feeling to know you can fall safely backwards and not get hurt. In fact, you didn’t even feel the impact of the fall. It was just poof and then outbursts of giggling all around.

More to come soon, including: Ian Stirling lecture, video of a polar bear at play, and some simple things we can all do to help the polar bears. In the meantime, here are a couple more pictures

Roads were empty except for our crazy group

Arctic puppies play with snow balls!

Packed up for the return home

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Tagged: Adventure, Arctic, Churchill, Polar Bears, snow, train, Travel

Living The Dream: Sharing Ice With Polar Bears

November 14, 2008 · 1 Comment

Polar bear resting on ice

This journey to the Arctic began with a powerful dream about a polar bear. In my dream, I was face to face with a polar bear, on the Arctic ice. Well, today I was face to face with several polar bears (23 to be exact). It was breathtaking. I had to keep reminding myself that I was here and they were here. This wasn’t a National Geographic program or a film – I was literally on the ice, with the polar bears.

Today we were much closer to the bears than we have been in the past. We watched them build “day beds” in the snow, where they could shield themselves from the wind and rest. We saw them eat kelp, which we learned provides the bears with salt and water, but isn’t very efficient due to the amount of calories it burns to process it (and bears need to hold onto their calories). We saw them lying side-by-side.

Bear in Day Bed

Today was the coldest day of our week in Churchill. It was -9F and -23F with windchill. Most of the bears were conserving energy. The bears can’t hunt until the sea ice comes to shore and unfortunately that hasn’t happened yet. The bears know they need to hold onto their calories so that they have a reserve until they can go back out and hunt again. I asked Chuck how this differs from 15 years ago. He said that 15 years ago, at this time of year, all the bears would have been 20-30 miles out on the ice, hunting. They’d stay there all season and come back to shore as the sea ice breaks up in Spring. However, due to climate change, the sea ice now rolls in with the wind for a day, the bears go out and try to hunt, and then have to come back to shore before the pieces of ice go back out to sea. There was one day before we arrived when the bears were out on the ice all day (and nobody saw them). But there hasn’t been any sea ice since we’ve been here and the bears are hungry and tired.

Arctic Hare sheltered by a rock

We also saw an Arctic hare – the first one of the trip. It was hard to see him in the white snow, sheltered behind a carefully selected rock. Arctic hares have an average life-span of 2 to 3 years. We spent the entire day on the tundra, watching the animals in their natural habitat.

There’s a lot more to share and many, many more photos, but it’s time for our evening lecture/lesson so I must sign off.

Tomorrow we begin the 4-day journey home and I’ll be without internet access most of the way. But I’ll post more blogs when we return!

In the meantime, you can view some more pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44304&l=d9334&id=508093336

and here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44306&l=5452a&id=508093336

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Tagged: arctic hare, Climate Change, global warming, Polar Bears

Update on Polar Bears and Dogs

November 13, 2008 · 1 Comment

Bear looking right at me

Last night I abruptly finished blogging so I could join a group for a night cap. My intention was to continue with details and stories from the day, but you’ll recall I’m hanging out people who do not understand why I’m spending “so much time on the computer.” When I remind them why I’m sharing these stories, they ease up a bit. But when you mix whisky with mountain people, this city girl doesn’t stand a chance – there are no excuses that will suffice not to join them.

It’s a good thing I did join the group though. Aside from a lot of laughs and stories, we learned some additional news about the polar bears and dogs we saw “playing” yesterday. It turns out that at least one of the dogs was killed during the encounter and several others may have been injured. It’s important to tell this part of the story because it’s the part nobody wants to talk about. People want to do what I did last night and share the “cute dog and bear pictures.” And many people probably aren’t aware of the full story. Thankfully, I’m traveling with scientists and people who know this community well and were able to educate us further about what had happened. So here’s the story:

There’s a man in Churchill, Brian Ladoon, who owns a large piece of property that he keeps fenced in. He charges people to take them on his property to see polar bears. How does he guarantee there will be bears on the property? Well, he also keeps sled dogs on the property and I’m told he leaves excessive food out for the dogs. The left-over food attracts the hungry bears, so there are typically quite a few bears in the area. In fact, while we never paid to go on his property (and never would) we’ve looked over the gate and seen bears here. The two sleeping bears were on his property, as well as the mom and cub we saw traversing the tundra to get to the property.

Last night I spoke with several scientists who saw the interaction we did and here’s what they believe happened: the mom and cub came onto the property to get the food. They knew the food was there and they knew the dogs – they were clearly heading straight that direction and continued on their way as soon as they got the food. When the dogs barked and tried to guard the food, the mom wanted to protect her cub, so she pounced on them or tapped them with a paw. Everyone I spoke with agrees the bear had no intention of killing the dogs – she could have done that easily. She was merely trying to get food and protect her cub. In terms of what a bear can do, she was relatively gentle with the dogs, but it only takes one swipe of the paw for a bear to kill or severely injure an animal the size of a dog. Once she got her food, the mom and cub continued on their path and left the area.

I’m happy to have learned this and to be able to share it with you. There have previously been several stories and pictures circulating online that show dogs and bears as “friends.” While the bear didn’t intentionally hurt the dogs, they’re not friends either. They’re animals sharing space, struggling to survive with limited resources. Evidently the organizations in Churchill are aware of the many problems caused by this man who is luring the bears onto his property, but they’ve yet to do anything about it. It’s a very small town and many people speculate that the man who owns the property is either a friend or a relative of people who work at the institutions who are supposed to regulate this. So it’s a political, turn-the-other-cheek game as opposed to stopping this activity.

Other information that was shared with me last night:

Most of the sled dog companies here lose no more than 1-2 dogs per year (usually due to the elements or illness). The man who owns that property for “bear tours” loses an average of 20 dogs per year — all due to bear attacks.
Brian Ladoon (who owns the property) claims to run a humane dog breeding business. Yet, his dogs are compromised daily by his polar bear practices
People are not supposed to feed the bears. If you’re caught feeding a bear, you will be arrested and fined. Essentially, Brian feeds the bears daily by leaving excessive food out “for the dogs.”

Here’s what I know from my experience in Churchill:

If you want to see polar bears, you do NOT need to pay some guy to go on his property. The bears live here and you can typically see quite a few every day, roaming the Hudson Bay area. They sometimes come into town or down to the Northern Studies Center (where we’re staying). But they’re almost always visible along the shoreline of the Bay. This is one of the places with the highest concentration of bears anywhere in the world.
So if you do come here, please do NOT give that man business
An alternative to see more bears is to take a Tundra Buggy tour. This is controversial as well due to negative impact on the environment and socializing of the bears. However, there are a couple tour companies who come HIGHLY recommended by bear conservationists and scientists. These companies are committed to minimizing environmental impact and teaching people about the bears (as opposed to a show and tell, safari-esque tour)

I’m going on a Tundra Buggy tour tomorrow and will share stories and photos from that experience. The company we’re using is one of the eco-friendly tours, of course!

Also, a group of us (with “help”) are making a coordinated effort to bring facts about the polar bear/dog property owner to organizations who should be regulating this. Due to the political nature of the small community, this needs to be taken to institutions outside of Churchill. The pictures we took yesterday actually are helpful in documenting what happened. And it’s fine for people to see the pictures of dogs and bears side-by-side as long as we all understand what I learned last night. These animals shouldn’t actually be co-mingling.

After much discussion about this topic (and a few drinks), other stories were shared with us. Stories of bears that have broken into public buildings and raided the kitchens, bears that have climbed onto the roof of buildings waiting to pounce on the next human who walks out the door, people who have nearly escaped bear attacks. It’s sobering to hear these stories, but essential that we do. When you’re face to face with the bears (as we have been), or watching them at play, observing their curiosity and intelligence, it’s natural to think they’re cute. And they ARE cute! It makes people want to cuddle the bears, pet the bears, take them home as pets. But part of the reason we’re attracted to the bears is their sheer power and we need to remember this. They are magnificent, beautiful, clever, and intelligent animals. They’re also very dangerous!

We have a lecture now (there’s a lot more to learn), but I’ll try to post more tonight. We had some fun, snowy adventures today. Also, I have some simple steps we can all take to help with polar bear and Arctic conservation. I’ll post those at the end of the week. It doesn’t take much to make a significant impact and affect positive change.

By the way, I’m here 2 more days. If you have any questions you’d like answered by the scientists who accompany me, post them here and I’ll post responses for you.

→ 1 CommentCategories: Polar Bears
Tagged: Churchill, dogs, Polar Bears, tundra, Tundra buggy

Bears, Bears, Bears!!

November 12, 2008 · 1 Comment

(note: you can see full-size images, by clicking the thumbnails below)

Once again, the best stuff seems to happen when most people have gone to sleep. Last night a group of us gathered in the dining room for some late-night story telling and creative inspiration (aka whisky). We sat with Rupert Pilkington, another bear researcher at the Center, and he told us some bear stories and personal adventures.

After 4 hours sleep, we woke up at 5:30 this morning to go on an early morning bear watch with Chuck. We were looking for polar bear tracks so which would help determine our afternoon bear-watching route with the larger group (only 8 of us went out this morning). We did see some tracks, but they were quickly buried by the falling snow. Chuck speculated that we may not see many bears today, with the possibility of a white out. Before we headed back to the Center for breakfast we saw 2 Arctic foxes (cute white fox that always look happy) running across the snow.

Polar bears crossing the Tundra

Thankfully, the weather cleared up and we saw bears today. This was our first “official” bear outing and it was amazing. As long as I’ve dreamed of this trip (literally) I never could have imagined the feeling that overcame me when I saw the first bears. They are absolutely phenomenal. They’re playful, smart, curious, and strong. It’s still hard to believe we shared the ice with them today. We watched a mom and cub traverse across the tundra for a while and then jumped back in our bus and headed in the direction they were heading.

Polar bear looking at right at me

When we arrived at our second stop, we immediately saw 2 bears resting under trees. One of them looked at right at me. Another got up, checked us out, turned around, and went back to his nap. Then, at a distance, we saw the original 2 bears heading our way. We now had our eyes on 4 bears – 2 napping and 2 moving swiftly in our direction.

The other thing I should mention is that there are a bunch of sled dogs tied up in the area. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen the photo of the polar bear playing with a dog that circulated a while back, but I witnessed it today! Initially the dogs howled when they saw the bears. The larger bear (Chuck thinks it was the mom) literally pounced on and pinned one of the dogs to the ground. And then, she let him up – unharmed. They chased each other in circles, stood side-by-side, and played for about 10 minutes. If they wanted to, the bears could have easily killed the dogs. But after they were finished playing, the bears continued on their way.

More tomorrow… there are some people waiting for me in the dining hall

Resting Bear

Polar bears with dogs

Polar bears and dog

MORE PICTURES POSTED HERE: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44024&l=f9ece&id=508093336

→ 1 CommentCategories: Polar Bears
Tagged: Adventure, Arctic, fox, Polar Bears, polar bears playing with dogs, snow, Travel, tundra