Churchill, Manitoba is a small town with a population of fewer than 1000 people located on the windswept western shore of Hudson Bay in Canada. The community shares the subarctic landscape with fascinating animals including beluga whales and polar bears. Ecotourism brings visitors from around the world hoping to see these special animals up close. I was lucky to have a chance to make the journey to this unique place in early November of 2023.
A land where three ecosystems meet
The weather conditions were below freezing for most of my visit. The sun sat low in the sky all day, and blowing snow created surreal atmospheric scenes. It was my first experience travelling so far north. Three distinct ecosystems converge around Churchill; boreal forest, arctic tundra, and arctic marine habitats support highly-specialized plants and animals. Many aspects of these ecosystems felt otherworldly, and as I photographed the landscape I often felt as though I had been transported to another planet.
The trees of the boreal forest near Churchill are a mix of black spruce, white spruce and tamarack. Their branches are often seen growing predominantly on one side of the tree trunk, sculpted by the strong winds into “flag trees”. The locals joke that it takes two trees, each appearing as half, to make one full christmas tree. The lower boughs of these hardy plants grow close to the ground, creating a natural skirt that traps insulating layers of snow and provides shelter for small animals and birds.
The arctic tundra landscape is a mix of boggy land, boulders, and countless lakes. Many of these shallow bodies of water were already frozen, their surfaces blown by the wind into icy ripples. What at first glance looked like moving water was revealed to actually be waves frozen in place.
The arctic marine habitat was perhaps the most striking, as at the time of my visit it was undergoing a dramatic seasonal transformation. One day the waves were crashing on the reddish sandy beaches and muddy shoreline, the next a thin layer of “grease” ice had begun to form. The waves took on a slushy texture, with ice crystals cascading ashore and building frozen ridges.
The formation of winter ice on Hudson Bay is part of what makes this time of year more favourable for seeing polar bears near Churchill. The bears gather along the coast, waiting for the ice to become thick enough for their winter season of seal hunting out on the bay. Within a few days of my arrival, the grease ice had shifted from an aquamarine blue-green colour to the solid white of thicker ice sheets extending nearly to the horizon.
A rugged & resilient community
The town of Churchill occupies a narrow peninsula between Hudson Bay and the mouth of the Churchill River. Nearby forests have historically supported plentiful caribou herds, which along with abundant fish and game provided several indigenous communities with the resources needed to survive in such a harsh climate for thousands of years. With first contact and the arrival of the European fur trade, forts and outposts were established in the region, dramatically altering how the local people lived. Now a small grid of modest houses, apartments and hotels make up the tiny footprint of the town, with a large community centre that houses the hospital, school and several other recreational and social services.
The grain elevators at the nearby port dominate the horizon to the North of town, and many of the older industrial buildings have been decorated with dramatic and colourful murals.
Because of its close proximity to dangerous wildlife, the town of Churchill has had to establish some unique community services and social norms. It is a town where cars and buildings are generally left unlocked, in case a bear comes wandering down the street – as they often do – and someone needs to quickly seek shelter. Bears that prove to be a nuisance or pose a particular threat are captured and taken to “polar bear jail” where they are kept until they can be released far from town.
Looking for bears in harsh arctic conditions
Wildlife sightings are almost guaranteed around Churchill. Heading out on a tundra buggy tour is one of the better ways to safely view the incredible landscape and its animal inhabitants.
On one particularly blustery outing, with blowing snow causing low-visibility, it was quite difficult to find the well-camouflaged animals we’d travelled so far to see. The first animals spotted were birds, plump ptarmigan in their white plumage that were visible only when they moved, darting through drifts of snow and fields of grass.
A bear that had been spotted earlier in the day napping beneath a bank of willow was later buried in a blanket of fresh snow, while tundra buggies motored past in the distance. These conditions can make for challenging nature photography, but I found the unexpected juxtapositions and dramatic weather elements to be enjoyable subjects.
In clearer conditions, spotting bears still proved to be difficult. The landscape offers many hiding places, with swaths of brush and shoreline embankments deep enough to hide even the largest bears. Our tundra buggy tour came across one bear relaxing in the willows near a frozen lake, occasionally lifting its head above the branches and nibbling on leaves in the late afternoon light.
When lucky enough to see a bear on the move, their large feet and long stride show clearly how they have evolved to walk long distances in a frozen environment. Once the the surface of the bay freezes, most of these bears will stay out on the ice hunting until the spring thaw, when they return to shore and fast until the next winter freeze.
The arctic foxes were also waiting for the sea ice to form, as they will often feed on the remnants of the seals killed by the polar bears. During a particularly stormy day on the tundra buggy I was able to photograph a small arctic fox curled up behind a rock as snow blew sideways in the howling wind.
An environment endangered by climate change
This once-in-a-lifetime experience was bittersweet, as the scientists guiding the tour made it clear that the environment that supports these unique animals is undergoing rapid and dramatic change. The sea ice is forming later in the winter and breaking up earlier in the spring than it used to, shortening the time that the polar bears have to hunt seals and build up their energy reserves for the rest of the year. The changes currently being observed are happening too quickly for the animals to effectively adapt, and populations of nearly every species in the area, from lemmings to bears, have been on the decline.
It was a privilege to see such a special place at this pivotal moment in time, and an experience that I will be thinking about for years to come. You can visit my site to see my full gallery of Churchill, Manitoba photographs. If you are interested in experiencing Churchill for yourself and supporting ongoing research in the region, check out the Churchill Northern Studies Centre and their amazing tours.
