Three Polar Bears have fun in the snow. It was snowing hard and the wind was fierce on a bitterly cold morning on the tundra just outside Churchill (Manitoba, Canada) when we found two Polar Bears sparring playfully. They were soon joined by a third bear. For a short period they played on the ice with the snow blowing around them. Then one of the bears wandered off. An enjoyable encounter with these magnificent animals.
Polar Bears congregate on the tundra close to Hudson’s Bay, Churchill, because this is the place they know where the bay will freeze over first and they will be able to hunt seals and have their first substantial meal in months. The bay freezes first at this location because the fresh water from the Churchill river enters the bay, reduces its salinity and hence it freezes over earlier than the rest of the bay. It’s a waiting game. It was cold when we were there but not cold enough to freeze the sea. Within a few days of this being filmed, the temperature plummeted even more and the bay began to freeze over. The Polar Bears left Churchill in search of seals which will haul out on the new ice. Global warming is a serious threat to these icons of the far north.