A polar bear plays around in the snow

I have so many photos of polar bears I don’t even know where to start. They were simply everywhere in the tundra just outside of Churchill. I can always tell when I’m shooting something I’m not familiar with because I take way too many photos. On this trip, I shot over 10GB each day!

why leave the lodge? they’re right there.

The lodge looked like it would be a nice place to park for a few days of serious bear photography. We didn’t stay there, but we did hang out there a lot. We saw upwards of 11 polar bears at a time in the immediate area around the lodge.

I’ll try to get the images processed quickly, but it may be awhile before a trip report it online.

It was tons of fun hanging out with Al Vinjamur and Jim Abernethy in the cold. For some reason, Jimmy has this thing with bear shit (he got ahold of some grizzly bear droppings while he was in Alaska earlier this year) and so he was very excited when he saw that there was something labeled as polar bear droppings at the Polar Inn’s gift shop. But when the stuff turned out to just be chocolate, he was quite disappointed.

Today, I received this forwarded e-mail:

—–Original Message—– From: Kelly Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 1:19 PM To: Jim Abernethy Subject: churchill Hey Jim, Are you warm now? Just thought I would drop you a line to say hello and ask you if you were serious about the “Polar Bear Poop”. I took a group out this morning to XXXX and watched a bear take a crap. I instanly thought of you and after the bear left, I went and grabbed a fresh lump. Yes I picked up polar bear poop just for you! Did you seriously want me to send it to you? Let me know and if so, I will package it and send it right away. Hope your trip to Chufchill was memorable and I will talk with you soon. All the best, Kelly

… and Jimmy’s reply:

—–Original Message—– From: Jim Abernethy Sent: Nov 23, 2006 8:26 AM To: Kelly Cc: Al Vinjamur Subject: You are awesome! Happy Thanksgiving Hi Kelly, Please send the polar bear shit. Label it so it gets through customs easier. That is so nice of you to think of me while the polar bear is taking a dump! You are awesome. I will put it right next to the grizzly bear shit in my freezer.

Even more…

—–Original Message—– From: Kelly Sent: Friday, November 24, 2006 9:23 AM To: Jim Abernethy Subject: Christmas parcel Hi Jim, Your christmas ornament is in the mail today. It has been sent fresh frozen, so I can not guarantee the shape upon its arrival. It should be fine though. I should mention that it did have somewhat of an odor when I picked it up and placed it in my bus. I mean it was still steaming when I picked it up. It came from a male about 1400 lbs on November 22. Enjoy my friend! Kelly

It takes a great friend to scoop up polar bear shit and put it in the mail.