We were up bright and early for breakfast at 7:30am, then we piled onto the bus for a tour of the surrounding area, with a particular look at the flora and fauna. We’ve started a list of all the different species we encounter: today, we added Yarrow, Alpine Arnica, and Purple Paintbrush. Our next stop was the Polar Bear Holding Facility, colloquially known as the “Bear Jail”. We dealt with several miscreant teammates *cough*Amy*cough* by allowing them to demonstrate the use of the Bear Traps. Just kidding, Amy.
We continued along in the bus, making stops to find samples of flora, which different team members looked up in Marlene’s flower book. The bus continued down the road.
Mystified by the complex engines and intrigued by the many bits of twisted parts,we stopped to explore Miss Piggy- the crashed cargo plane which still lies on the rocks where it fell. Though she looks sturdy from afar, we noticed how light the aluminum was that formed the wings and sides.
Whenever we arrived back at the bus, Marlene awaited us with a bag of goodies- gummy bears or jelly beans. A big shout-out to “The Happy Donor” (a.k.a. Dean’s Mom, Mrs. Mizzi), who procured much of our snacks and desserts by means of—well, I won’t reveal ALL your secrets(something about whales and like, flukes, or something, though…). From the whole team- Thanks sooo much for the sugary treats!
Still further down the road, we arrived at the weir which served as our lunchtime stopping-place. The river was used to run a hydro power plant further downriver, and the weir is now in place to return the river’s depth to near-normal levels. There’s a lookout tower there- visitors can see waaaay out to the port and a large area of the Churchill landscape (read: tundra).
And still the bus continued on.
We arrived at the port in time to catch our boat to the Fort (sorry for the rhyme…). Fort Prince of Whales-I mean, Wales- was built for trading by the HBC. It changed hands a few times between the English and French forces before being destroyed by the French. It is currently undergoing refurbishment and archaeological work.
As historically important and interesting as the Fort was, it was greatly overshadowed by the sighting of four polar bears in the bay, feeding on a beluga whale. The battlements were filled with eager onlookers, cameras and binoculars to eyes as we caught our first glimpses of polar bears that weren’t on posters.
On the boat again, we travelled out into the bay in search of whales. We were excited to find ourselves quite near a group of beluga whales, consisting of cows and a few young calves. Immature beluga whales are grey in colour: as they grow older, their skin takes on a vibrant white shade. The youngest, four feet long and ash-grey, swam with its mother, who nudged it along and helped it breathe. We stayed with the group for about half an hour, watching them and listening via hydrophone. Beluga whales have the largest vocal range and are the most vocal of all whales: we heard a large variety of clicks and whistles.
Our final destination before heading back to the CNSC was at Gypsy’s: a town restaurant with filling food and delicious desserts. We enjoyed a good meal after a long day’s trekking- Thanks to Gypsy’s staff for their hard work in the kitchen and in serving us!
We returned to home base for a quick research activity in preparation for tomorrow. As to the content, that’s up to the next group to let you in on… *cliffhanger*
Until next time!
Kate & Will
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