The sea ice is forming on the Hudson Bay and the polar bears are heading out of Churchill, Manitoba for a season of seal hunting. The forecast has temperatures and winds in the right combination to allow the ice to keep growing, so it looks like polar bear season is winding down.
Every fall, polar bears meet up on land up here in Canada’s Arctic Tundra and await the freeze up. By the end of November the bay is solid enough for the bear to set foot on ice. All that’s left are footprints. And what big footprints they are! Polar Bear paws measure up to 12 inches across (a foot!) and help distribute weight when treading on thin ice. Footpads on the bottom of each paw are covered by small, soft bumps known as papillae which grip the ice and keep the bears from slipping.Polar bears slow and prefer to walk on a the soft snow instead, which leaves behind footprints as you can see in the following video clip. Those trails in the snow are an ephemeral reminder of the bears we got to know this season. Check out the highlight:
