Blue View - In Search of Polar Bears
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When we were in Patagonia with Nine of Cups, we had the opportunity to take a small expedition vessel to Antarctica. The ship offered deep discounts on last-minute, unsold cabin space, and as luck would have it, we happened to be in the right place at the right time. Even so, it was a real splurge for our budget at the time. The trip was awesome - one of the most memorable trips we’ve ever taken, and we never once regretted spending the money.
It was so awesome, in fact, that we are now determined to visit the Arctic, where instead of penguins and leopard seals, we’ll see polar bears and Arctic fox in the wild, and even, perhaps, the Aurora Borealis.
One of our options for this summer is to explore Canada, and maybe this is a good time to do some research on the options out there for polar bear viewing. Here’s what we found out…
Cruise Ships
There are several cruise ship options, ranging from small expedition-type ships to the large, very grand, cruise ships.
Large Cruise Ships
Norwegian Cruise Line Ship
What you imagine when you think of cruise ships are massive ships with 3000 passengers, and spectacular Arctic scenery… glaciers, fiords, Arctic seascapes… all aboard these floating resorts, while enjoying great food and all the other cruise ship amenities. What you probably won’t see are polar bears, at least at close range.
Pros:
Relatively inexpensive
Lots of creature comforts
Cons:
2000-3000 passengers
Polar bear sightings rare
Large groups on shore excursions
Tours and land excursions are usually at additional cost
Best Times: May-Sept
Cost:
~$125-$400/day per person
Typical cost for two people: Norwegian Cruise Line 11-day cruise of Iceland and Norway, inside cabin - $4500 plus airfare (some include airfare or offer reduced airfares)
Expedition Ships
Lindblad Expeditions Ship
These are small ships with a limited number of passengers. Instead of stopping at large ports-of-calls that can handle thousands of tourists off-loading for a few hours, these ships visit small harbors, fiords, and glaciers and use zodiac-type inflatables for exploring and transporting passengers ashore. This is the type of ship we sailed to Antarctica on.
Pros:
Small ships: 100 - 180 passengers
Onboard marine biologists, ornithologists, historians, naturalists, and other experts provide daily talks
1-2 excursions each day, usually without additional cost
Informal atmosphere - on some ships, passengers are even allowed on the bridge
Cons:
Expensive
Best Times: May-Sept
Cost:
~ $1100-$2000/day per person
Typical cruises: 10-20 days
Typical cost for two people: Lindblad Expeditions/ National Geographic “Land of the Ice Bears” 11-day cruise of Arctic Svalbard, $25,000 plus airfare (~$4200 RT for two from Las Vegas)
Organized Tours
Unlike brown and black bears that fatten up during the summer months, then hibernate during the winter months, polar bears don’t hibernate. For them, Arctic game is hard to come by in the summer and by fall, they are very, very hungry. Their primary hunting season is the winter when the sea ice has formed. Once the ice is thick enough to support their weight, the polar bears can walk along the ice and wait for their prey, seals, to appear in a breathing hole. They roam hundreds of miles, and, hopefully, consume enough food during the winter to build up their fat reserves to make it through the summer months when they’ll have little or nothing to eat.
In October and November, as the ice pack starts to form, the hungry polar bears start congregating near the Arctic shorelines, waiting for the ice to thicken. There are a few small towns located in the far north that are in the same areas, and several companies based in these towns provide organized bear-watching tours. Note that while there is a very high likelihood of spotting polar bears and a reasonable probability of seeing a few up close, there is no guarantee. Your tour might be too early, too late, or the weather might be bad.
Churchill - “Polar Bear Capital of the World”
Churchill is a small frontier town located on the Hudson Bay in northern Canada, and is only accessible by plane or train. It is the self-proclaimed “Polar Bear Capital of the World”. Each year in late fall, hundreds of polar bears congregate along the nearby shores of the Hudson Bay, waiting for the sea to freeze over so they can begin hunting. Churchill hosts at least five companies that provide bear viewing tours, with a wide range of pricing. I’ve listed a couple of tours below:
Natural Habitat Adventures
Small groups: 12-15 people
Includes lodging, meals, helicopter tours, dog sledding, tours on special raised, reinforced tundra vehicles, airfare from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Trip duration: 7- 9 days (includes two nights in Winnipeg)
Best times: Oct-Nov
Typical cost for two people: $23,000 plus airfare to Winnipeg, Manitoba
Lazy Bear Expeditions
Typical Tundra Vehicle
Group size: 15-20
Includes lodging, helicopter tours, dog sledding, tours on special raised, reinforced tundra vehicles, airfare from Winnipeg, Manitoba
Not included: most meals
Trip duration: 5 nights (two of which are in Winnipeg)
Best times: Oct-Nov
Typical cost for two people: $10,500 plus most meals and airfare to Winnipeg, Manitoba
Kaktovik - “The Polar Bear Capital of Alaska”
I guess Churchill must have beat them to “Polar Bear Capital of the World”. Kaktovik is a small Inupiat village on the Bering Sea, and is only accessible by small commercial or chartered aircraft. Nearby are the many barrier islands within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where a multitude of polar bears gather during the ice-free period between August and October, waiting for the ice to form. The bears generally rest on the barrier islands, but also venture near the village to feed on the remains of hunter-harvested bowhead whales. There are two companies that provide tours, but only one, Planet Earth Adventures, is currently booking tours for 2023:
Planet Earth Adventures
Small groups: 6 people
Includes lodging, meals, bear viewing from small open boats, airfare from Fairbanks
Trip duration: 5 - 7 days (includes two nights in Fairbanks)
Best times: Aug - Sep
Typical cost for two people: $12,000 (5 days) or $15,000 (7 days) plus airfare to Fairbanks
DIY Approach
We have a few issues with the organized tours. One is that they pack activities into the tours that we don’t really care about, but still have to pay for. Examples are helicopter flights that look for bears, but can’t approach closer than a thousand feet or so, or dog sled rides - not something we’d get excited about. Another issue is that the tours are closely choreographed and if the couple of days that are your assigned viewing days are rainy or snowy, or your timing is off and the ice forms early or late, you might not see many - or any bears. Then there’s the cost - we’re starting to talk real money here.
If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, however, you can put together your own trip. We looked into getting our own flight into Churchill and booking a room for 7-10 days - surely we’d have a couple of good days during that period. The tour companies are apparently happy to take extra guests on their tundra rovers, and perhaps we can even negotiate a reduced fare for unused seats. Finally, we’d book a leisurely return on the train, making sure to get a sleeper car for the 2-3 day trip. Our best estimate for 7 days in Churchill, including airfare, train fare, hotels, meals, and 3 days of tundra rover tours would be around $7000. That’s still a lot of money, and there are a lot of “ifs” and “maybes”, but it’s a lot cheaper than the organized tours and we’d have greater flexibility and more opportunity to see bears. It would also be more of an adventure than simply booking a tour. The do-it-yourself approach is definitely worth looking into, which we shall do over the next few weeks.
Mothers with Cubs
One last thought. While the male polar bears are out hunting on the ice, the mothers-to-be return to shore in late January and February and dig dens in which to give birth to their cubs.
Photo courtesy of Michelle Valberg
They typically emerge from their dens in March and after a few days ashore to allow the newborn cubs to get accustomed to the outdoors, the mothers and cubs head for the frozen sea. If the timing is just right and with the right tour, one can view the mothers and cubs. Most of the regular tour companies don’t offer tours in March, but one company, Arctic Kingdom, has leased an obsolete naval communications base outside of Churchill that has been converted to a lodge. According to their webpage, bears can be viewed through the surrounding fences from the lodge, and daily tours on the tundra rovers take guests to view the bears as well. Cost? A mere $45,000 for two. We’ll book that right after our trip on the SpaceX.
See you next week…