With International Polar Bear Day on February 27, we’re drawing consideration to the King of the Arctic’s plight in a warming world.
A worldwide chief in sustainable and conservation-focused tourism, Nat Hab has been taking guests to see polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba—referred to as the Polar Bear Capital of the World—since 1989.
For about six weeks every fall (mid-October via November), a number of hundred polar bears collect on the tundra exterior the small subarctic city of Churchill, ready for the ocean ice to kind. Atop the ice, they spend the winter searching seals, their major meals supply, staking out over seal respiratory holes.
Polar Bears Under Threat
Unfortunately, Canada’s Western Hudson Bay inhabitants—one of many Arctic’s 19 distinct polar bear teams—has declined 27% within the final 5 years, in keeping with a authorities evaluation launched on the finish of final 12 months.
Despite the decline in general numbers, Churchill stays the most effective place to see them within the wild, and the bear-viewing expertise has remained constant and rewarding.
“Few animals are a more powerful symbol of wilderness and the fragility of our planet,” says Ben Bressler, Nat Hab’s president and founder. “When you see them up close in the wild, your heart soars. And you go home an ambassador for conservation, with a potent sense of what is at stake.”
With the bears’ future imperiled as shrinking sea ice shortens their searching season, time is of the essence. It’s by no means been extra vital to introduce vacationers to those threatened animals and encourage them to assist change their destiny for the higher.
Nat Hab’s Polar Bear Trips
On a various slate of six- and seven-day itineraries that includes the smallest tour teams in Churchill, we take vacationers onto the tundra for pleasant encounters with the world’s largest marine mammal. Custom Polar Rovers are designed to facilitate the closest doable expertise in consolation and security. (Check out our video showcasing these distinctive automobiles.) And with our professional naturalist guides on the helm, guests get in-depth interpretation that’s second to none.
“We may spy lone bears roaming, mothers teaching their cubs survival skills, and juvenile males play-fighting,” says Bressler. “And if you’re like me, you’ll never feel more alive than in those wondrous moments watching the bears.”
While polar bears are the first focus, Nat Hab’s Churchill adventures additionally function a mixture of northern actions. These embrace canine sledding, helicopter flight-seeing over the tundra, and engagement with native residents via cultural displays on Indigenous heritage and Churchill’s fascinating historical past.
© Colin McNulty
Conservation and Community
Each polar bear journey begins and ends in Winnipeg, with simple flights from the U.S. on a number of airways. Travelers then board privately chartered planes to fly to and from Churchill, maximizing time with the bears. Traveling with Nat Hab is 100% carbon-neutral. All flights and travel-related exercise are offset, a follow we’ve led the trade in since turning into the world’s first carbon-neutral journey firm in 2007.
Committed to its mission of Conservation via Exploration, Nat Hab not solely creates a legion of conservation ambassadors by educating our company via immersive polar bear encounters, however we additionally work intently with the Churchill neighborhood in supporting numerous packages and initiatives to assist enhance the lives of residents, the on-the-ground stewards of those bears.
In latest years, Nat Hab has supplied neighborhood breakfasts to greater than 250 Churchill residents and donated recent produce, milk and groceries for college meals and neighborhood meals share packages. We’ve helped fund a cutting-edge hydroponic rising system for the Churchill Northern Studies Center, an unbiased nonprofit analysis and schooling facility. And we’ve helped lead and facilitate enhancements to neighborhood recycling packages, particularly associated to our personal operations and visitor actions in and round Churchill.
© Judy Wilson
Nat Hab’s Churchill Polar Bear Adventures
Ready to see polar bears and expertise this distant and interesting a part of the planet for your self? Explore Nat Hab’s Churchill polar bear adventures:
Canada’s Premier Polar Bear Adventure
Our flagship polar bear tour. In addition to common departures, this six- or seven-day journey additionally options each women-only and particular pictures departures. Limited to 16 vacationers / Priced from $7,495 per particular person.
Ultimate Churchill Adventure
This seven-day expedition is Nat Hab’s most complete encounter with the world of the polar bear and the Canadian North. It features a helicopter flight to a vacant bear den, a canine sled trip via the boreal forest, and cultural actions with residents the place vacationers find out about life on the Arctic frontier. Limited to fifteen vacationers / Priced from $9,995 per particular person.
Tundra Lodge Adventure
On this six- or seven-day journey, keep straight on the tundra among the many bears on the earth’s most exceptional resort. Set seasonally on the sting of Hudson Bay, the Tundra Lodge is a customized “train” of linked lounge automobile, eating automobile and personal sleeping compartments that gives company round the clock proximity to the bears and consists of day by day Polar Rover excursions. Limited to 29 vacationers / Priced from $9,995 per particular person.
Tundra Lodge & Town Adventure
Combine the most effective of each worlds on this seven-day journey! Spend two nights at our unique Tundra Lodge, then one other two nights in historic Churchill to take pleasure in cultural actions and an opportunity to satisfy and chat with locals who name this subarctic outpost dwelling. Limited to 29 vacationers / Priced from $9,995 per particular person.
Belugas, Bears & Summer Wildlife of Churchill
Few of nature’s marvels match the extreme aliveness of an Arctic summer time, when the tundra turns inexperienced, wildflowers burst into shade, and animals come forth in nice flocks and herds, together with 1000’s of beluga whales that return to the Churchill River for summer time feasting. And whereas polar bears aren’t the primary focus within the summertime, they’re seen ceaselessly, together with from a scenic helicopter flight over the tundra and taiga forest. Limited to 14 vacationers / Priced from $7,895 per particular person.