Tuesday, October 14, 2008

6:36 PM

Hey! Today was probably one of the best days that we have had here. We got up today after the eventful night watching two bears come to the buggy because we were cooking burgers and they almost got into a fight. We heard them growl at each other and I saw one of their mouths and how big their teeth really were. Neither one of them actually hurt the other so don't worry about that, but it was very interesting to watch how they interacted with each other. After breakfast we went straight to the buggy out on the tundra where we went on a helicopter ride. I thought that it was really awesome when we got to step on the tundra soil. It was so cool, it was actually like walking on a mattress because of the soft soil under the lichen. It felt so good to be able to walk on the land after not being on the ground since Friday. It was really funny because most of us have almost like a cabin fever and we were so excited to be able to go on the tundra ground. It was so much fun - the scene outside the window of the copter was so beautiful. I got to see how far the bears have to actually travel and I think that it is amazing how far they really have to go. I also saw that the tundra is almost like a marsh, that is the best way to describe it, and it made me realize how much the bears really do need the ice. In the helicopter we went to a site where the maternity dens were once located. I got to actually sit in an abandoned den and see how the bears lived for three or so months, and I got to have my picture taken in it which is something that I am going to keep forever. It was so much fun today and when we got back we did a video conference with Molly A's school. I thought that it was a lot of fun. I like to be able to help educate people any chance I get so doing another conference was really cool. After all that craziness today we worked on our forward action programs for when we get back home. It made me a little overwhelmed but after going through it for a while with the rest of the people here I feel more confident and ready to go back and start working towards my cause. All and all, today was again a pretty good day and I am so glad that I got to go on the helicopter.

Monday, October 13, 2008

4:14 PM

Hey! Everyone sorry for not bloging last night, but I had to cook diner for everyone and didn't have time. Yesterday was a really good day and some of the highlights were that there was a young male bear that we saw right outside the buggy in the morning. He was so beautiful and the fact that he was right by the lodge was really cool because he also stayed around throughout the day and even into today. We can still see him off in the distance sleeping in the kelp bed that he made last night, every once and a while sticking his head up to see what is going on.

At the end of the yesterday while we were finishing dinner we heard that the Northern Lights were out. Throughout the evening we watched the Lights and they were spectacular. They were so beautiful to watch with all the green and the small strips of red or pink that would go through the air. It was like a beautiful long strip of color spread through the air. It was the most magical thing I have ever seen.

So today was very interesting, we stayed in the buggy, had a videoconference with a class of high school students that included an ambassador from last week. Now the videoconference was very interesting because we got practice talking in front of a television and people at the same time. Public speaking is something that I have always struggled with and doing this conference today has given me more confidence to be able to give our message to others.

The other thing that we did was we talked to local trappers from near Churchill. I thought that it was very cool to be able to listen to them speak about what they did and why they did it. To clarify for everyone a trapper is someone who traps animals in the wild and uses it to eat their meat for food and uses their fur to either sell or make clothing. Trapping is a way of life for these locals and it is also a job. They sell the furs for money and they also use them for their own clothing and of course they eat the meat. Most people think that hunting animals is a bad thing and that it destroys the structure of the ecosystem around them. They showed us today that that is not how to look at it and in fact they have the utmost respect for the animals. It gave me a whole new respect for the trappers and ways to look at trapping and the fur trade. I also like the fact that one of the things that they make sure they keep an eye on while trapping is making sure that they don't deplete their supply of animals for next year. I have always been under the believe that hunting of animals is ok in moderation and I think that the talk today made my beliefs stronger and made me able to put more backing behind what I believe. Today was a very interesting day and I learned a lot about people and their different cultures.

We are planning on going out on the buggy a little later today so I hope that we will get a chance to see more bears and see what the tundra is like.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

6:47 PM

Hey! It's October 11 and it is our second day in the Buggy Lodge. This morning we had a talk on field biology and learned about all the things you would need in the field. During that talk we heard of a lot of funny stories that people have had while in the field. When we finished that, we had an excellent lunch, but we had to eat fast since we got a radio call that polar bears were sighted about an hour away. Once we got on the buggy we were all excited and couldn't wait to get out and see the bears. On our way out to see them we saw two hares hiding in the middle of the thin shrubs right near the edge of the buggy. A few minutes later we saw a large group of ptarmigans that you could just barely see through the shrubs. Seeing the birds was really interesting. I had never seen them in such a big group and just sitting there on the ground. I thought the sight was very interesting. When we finally got to the bears it made my heart stop at how beautiful I thought they looked laying on the tundra resting. It was the same mother and two cubs that we saw yesterday. For about thirty minutes we watched and took pictures of the mother bear napping and the cubs peeking their heads out every now and then to take a look to see if we were still there. When we were done watching her she decided to get up. She and the cubs started to move away towards the far end of where we were in the buggy. We followed them, very carefully, through a small part of the tundra. I thought it was really cute how the cubs would chase after mom when she started to get to far away, but there was something today that I saw that made me really upset. While the cubs were walking they both found trash and started chewing on it. It upset me that I saw firsthand how pollution was affecting the polar bears in their own home. Seeing this event today makes me more than ever want to show people that pollution can be really harmful to the polar bears. Although it was really nice and cool to see the bears I still can't get out of my head the image of a small baby polar bear with a plastic cup in its mouth.

Friday, October 10, 2008

9:50 PM

Hey! Today is October 10 and it was our first day in Churchill and our first night on the Tundra Buggy Lodge. Once we got here we all realized how cold it really is here in Canada. That first blast of cold air and ice was a big wakeup call to what the weather is like around here. It was a really fun day, we got to explore all through town and see the history and culture behind Churchill. One of my favorite parts of today was being able to see the local school and activities center. Another highlight f the day was when we got to see our first polar bear. It was amazing to see him walk around the tundra and how big and beautiful these animals are in the wild. We also saw a few hours later, a mother ad her cubs waling around other Tundra Buggies around us. We could see that they were interested in what was going on and what the people on the buggies were doing. I was so excited when I saw the bears that my heart dropped and I went to run outside to the back deck of the buggy. After about ten minuets of being outside and taking all these pictures f these wonderful bears, my face was frozen and my hands were really cold, but I have to say that it was all worth it. That experience today was something that I will never forget. At the end of the day finally making it to the Tundra Lodge was the icing on top of a really cool day. Te Lodge is really nice and a lot bigger then I though it would be. All and all today was a perfect start of what will be a really fun, interesting, and informative week.