Manitoba is home to an impressive variety of landscapes and ecosystems. Most people, residents and visitors alike, will be most familiar with the softly rolling prairie farmland of the southern regions of the province. Venturing northward, the terrain changes to rocky Canadian shield interspersed with countless small lakes and winding waterways. At the most northeastern edge of Manitoba a unique convergence of environments can be experienced; the Hudson Plains ecozone, muskeg, peat bogs, boreal forest, and the maritime zone along the shores of Hudson Bay all meet in Wapusk National Park.
The name Wapusk is derived from the Cree word for “white bear”. This unique region of overlapping ecosystems is an important habitat for polar bears, who congregate here to wait for the winter ice to freeze on the nearby bay, and whose cubs are born in dens throughout the area. The national park encompasses 11,475 square kilometres and was designated in 1996.
Human occupation of the region dates back to at least 3,000 years ago. Archaeological sites include food caches, hunting blinds, and tent rings. The land and its resources are traditionally used by the Cree, Dene, Inuit and Red River Métis people, and the park sits within Treaty 5 territory.
I was fortunate to be able to visit Churchill and Wapusk National Park in early November of 2023. Mostly there to see Ursus maritimus, I was astonished by the vast landscape and incredible variety of botanical and animal life that calls it home. A highlight of my experience there was a helicopter flight over the park, passing above tundra and boreal forest, and cruising along the leading edge of the freezing winter ice on Hudson Bay.
The helicopter flight departed directly from the Northern Studies Science Centre. The program for guests there included tundra buggy rides, lectures with world-renowned researchers, visits to the town of Churchill, and much more. After several days of harsh winds and overcast skies, the morning of our last full day on site revealed sunny weather suitable for flying out over nearby Wapusk National Park in search of polar bears.
The bears were loitering and resting near the shoreline. Easiest to spot were the bears walking across the tundra, appearing formidable even from several hundred feet above.
In some areas we observed groups of bears napping in the snow. Once the ice freezes and their winter-long seal hunt begins out on the bay, it is theorized that the bears are not so tolerant of each other. This period of waiting and spending time in close proximity with minimal conflict is unique to the polar bear population around Churchill, and it was fascinating to see this behaviour from above.
As we flew over the park, the Hudson Bay stretched north and east beyond the horizon. Close to shore the winter sea ice was beginning to form.
As climate change progresses the ice has been freezing later in the season and thawing earlier in the spring. This impacts the duration of the time the bears can spend on the ice during the winter, hunting seal and packing on the calories and fat that will sustain them through the rest of the year.
The experience of flying over Wapusk National Park and seeing landscape undergoing its seasonal shift is one I will never forget. I think often of the fragility of the ecosystem there; despite the harshness of the subarctic environment and the fearsome predators that call it home, it is a very vulnerable place that is likely to undergo dramatic changes in the years to come.
You can find my full set of images from Churchill, Manitoba here, and read more about this unique travel experience in my post An Arctic Adventure with Polar Bears in Churchill, Manitoba.
