Notes from Alaska: Among Polar Bears
By Betsy Beardsley, Arctic Environmental Justice Program Director, Alaska Wilderness League
I’ve never seen a polar bear in the wild. Being one of the lucky few to travel to remote arctic villages for work, I used to hope that I’d see one in its natural habitat.
On a recent trip to Pt. Hope, polar bears had been spotted around every corner of the village. Seven bears had come into or nearby the village within a week’s time. We were told to take serious precautions – not to walk very far without a gun through town, to stay indoors at night. One elder said the blizzard whiteout conditions we were experiencing were a polar bears’ playground.
The blizzard had seized Pt. Hope in a flash. The snow came down hard and the gusts of 45 MPH winds made it virtually impossible to see. The wind moved the snow on the ground like a plow, covering up doorways and cars in minutes. In three hours time the entrance to our hotel was completely shut in by snow.
I kept thinking of the polar bears playing out there. While the force of the wind could barely allow me to trudge 10 yards out in the storm, a polar bear could walk across the whole town impenetrably.
It’s not often that polar bears congregate near the village. Several Pt. Hope residents called this the season for polar bears near their community. They keep trash and anything else that may lure a polar bear indoors and away from temptation. Although many people seemed to have a good polar bear story, not everyone had actually seen a polar bear up close. That’s the way they would like to keep it.
My friend Elijah has the best polar bear story. He was napping out on the Chukchi Sea ice after a day of whaling. He awoke to find a polar bear staring at him from 10 feet away. Both were surprised by one another and the polar bear moved away quickly.
An elder told me of a time he was heading home from hunting with a group of people. They were in a boat skimming the coastline. He said they passed 19 polar bears on the way home. They too were all heading somewhere.
One of my colleagues took his skis out on the lagoon the day we arrived in Pt. Hope. He had a kite fastened to him as a sail. A group of people gathered on one side of the lagoon and appeared to be watching him. Later he found out they were watching a polar bear.
I know if you see a grizzly bear you are supposed to remain calm and alert it of your presence. Experts caution not to run from a brown bear. Rather, it is better to crouch down with your hands and arms protecting your head if the bear charges.
I’ve actually had a couple close encounters with grizzlies. Once while fishing from the shore of a narrow river, a bear appeared from the tall grass on the opposite bank. He stepped down into the river, stopped within 20 feet of me, and began fishing. After catching a fish with his paw, he carried it with his teeth disappearing into the brush behind me. Frozen in fear, I just remained still.
I don’t know what I’d do if I saw a polar bear. Seeing that grizzly – even though it was scary – was okay because I was in familiar territory. I know how to fjord across a river if I have to. However, the Chukchi Sea environment is quite different. Big piles of ice line the coastline. A polar bear could easily appear behind a block of ice leaving you nowhere to seek shelter.
The Inupiaq have lived among the polar bear for thousands of years. They know their behavior, habits and habitat. When a subsistence family needs the meat or fur of a polar bear to survive, the animal gives himself up. Otherwise, the Inupiaq leave the polar bears alone. They don’t need to see them, like I thought I did.
In his book the Snow Leopard, Peter Matthiessen describes the months-long search through the Himalayas for the reclusive animal. He travels over high peaks and treacherous terrain in winter just to catch a glimpse. In the end, he learns the reward is not about finding a snow leopard, but the journey that takes him there.
My trip to Pt. Hope taught me that I’d rather not see a polar bear in the wild. I know they are out there and that’s good enough for me.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:47 am
Thank you for sharing your stories from up north.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
The date was July 7, 1978. Time 1:10 a.m. Place - Village of Kaktovik on a small island in a lagoon on the coast of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge. I was hosting a small contingent from the office of the Chief of National Wildlife Refuges in Washington, D.C. on a tour of Alaska Refuges to acquaint them with the unique challenges of managing the addition of 54 million acres of lands that were soon to be added to the 20+ million acres already existing in Alaska. We had arrived in Kaktovik in a small plane in the early evening. The sun was hovering at about 10 degrees above the horizon and we had been alerted earlier to remain cautious if we might wander the streets and shore of the small island because a polar bear had been seen earlier feeding on scrap remains of a whale that had been taken by the villagers in November. As we strolled along the gravel street to the airstrip the polar bear came wandering without concern toward us. Taking advantage of the few buildings as a place to take cover if the bear should appear agressive, we shadowed him in his meandering to the beach and a shallow spit. The bear chose to ignore us as it waded into the water and began feeding on the scraps of flesh and bone.
It was my only experience of witnessing a polar bear in its native habitat. Needless to say, in all my thirty year career of working on and managing National Wildlife Refuges, plus travelling throughout southern Africa visiting game parks, and going to Antarctica and witnessing the exotic birds and animals in those environments, I collected literally thousands of mental images of all types of mammals, birds, reptiles, etc. But, I cherish those moments when I observed a polar bear in its environment - wild, free and undisturbed. Henry David Thoreau said, “We require wildness.” I couldn’t agree more.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Nice story Betsy. I love to read about such experiences and appreciate the insight.