October 16 - Churchill and a Polar Bear Release

Today we were up and off before the crack of dawn.  When we got to the Tundra Rover pick-up point the sun was just coming up and we had a really spectacular sunrise.

Then we were off for more tundra landscape…

and we saw the rover hotel again at a distance.

During the day Rob, our guide, took lots of pictures of the group.

The animals we saw today were more polar bears,

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Video 1 of polar bear 
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Video 2 of polar bear
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and polar bear tracks in the snow.

more birds

and a grey fox.

On the way back to Churchill we stopped by the Polar Bear “jail”.  This is where they take polar bears that are causing trouble in the town. 

We actually were given a really special treat as they were going to be taking two of the “inmates” to be released.  They carried the bears with a fork lift with the bear stretched out on a large piece of plywood and then rolled them into nets.  The nets were then attached to a helicopter that would then airlift then to the release locations, away from other towns. 

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Video of fork lifting a bear
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video of helicopter lifting bears
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After the helicopter took off one of the rangers came over to explain what they were doing and to answer questions.  Getting to watch the airlift was a special treat.  Not every group gets to see this.

We also stopped at the town limits for a group photo of their very large town sign.