The day began with a lot of video conferencing. The first video conference of the day was a video chat, via Skype, with Robert Buchanan. Robert is the President of Polar Bears International. He is currently in Toronto meeting with various representatives from the World Wildlife Fund. We spoke of what on the trip has inspired us in terms of the animals we saw.
He offered a message of hope that we can reverse the impacts on climate change and that is up to us. We are ones that can make the difference for the polar bear, an animal that desperately needs our help.
In between video conferencing, we spotted a bear in the distance to remind us why we are all the way up here in Churchill!
Our next video conference was with Dr. Steven Amstrup, the senior scientist from PBI. He has a long history studying polar bears and is one of the world’s leading experts on polar bears and climate change. He spoke to us about how he makes predictions about polar populations and how to speak with people about climate change issues. He said if we are having trouble talking with people about climate change to say, “It is the laws of physics that state the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will cause global warming. If people dispute this, they are arguing the laws of physics.” Truly a great conference on how to verbalize the science behind the crisis.
The morning video conferencing concluded with a video conference to Cleveland Zoo staff and volunteers. We talked about our experiences and they asked questions. This helped connect people back home to our expedition to the Arctic and the problems it is facing.
After lunch we boarded the buggy and after only a few minutes we saw a male bear. A wonderful treat of the day was the driving of the buggies and with two people on bear lookout we walked on the beach of Hudson Bay. Back at lodge we continued with discussions about climate change and leadership. Soon the realization hit that it was our last night here.
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