Though we may have felt it was a long winter, many polar bears are cherishing their last few weeks on Arctic sea ice before it melts for the summer. As explore.org prepares to catch glimpses of the bears’ return on various Churchill, Manitoba, live cams (including the soon-to-launch Beluga Boat Cams), we hope to get you even earlier glimpses of the great white bear, but from farther north than usual- Svalbard, Norway.
Two Polar Bears International staff members, Alysa McCall and Kt Miller, are heading to Svalbard as part of a Mission Blue Spitsbergen Hope Spot Expedition. From the town of Longyearbyen, PBI will host a series of live chats with the Mission Blue team and experts joining the expedition, including the indomitable Dr. Sylvia Earle – the first person to ever walk on the bottom of the ocean and a courageous conservationist dedicated to protecting the worlds’ oceans.
PBI plans to go live on the Tundra Connections cam page, and on explore.org’s, PBI’s, and Mission Blue’s Facebook pages, at the below dates and times (subject to change):
- June 20th– 9:00am PST /12:00 pm ET/ 6:00pm Svalbard
- June 21st– 9:00am PST /12:00 pm ET/ 6:00pm Svalbard
- June 28th– 9:00am PST /12:00 pm ET/ 6:00pm Svalbard
They will talk about the importance of oceans, Svalbard, our expedition, and highlight local marine life including polar bears.
Questions may be difficult to receive in live time, so please leave your questions in the comments section below on this page, or on Facebook, or the Tundra Connections cam page. We will pass them on early to get them answered on air.
It’s going to be a gorgeous trip full of Arctic beauty and wildlife. We can’t wait to share it with you!
