Today started a little calmer, no wake up calls so it was breakfast as normal. After breakfast we geared up for another trek, and headed out. A bear had been spotted at the place we had seen mama and cubs yesterday. We were hopeful she was still hanging out, but it turned out to just be Frack napping on a comfortable hill.
After watching him for a little bit, we walked further along to a spot that often has arctic hares. We were in luck as there was a couple that were resting. They are very confident of their camouflage ability, so we were able to slip fairly close to get some great pictures.
On the walk back, another bear came ambling into the area. This was a female, she was a bit leaner than the other bears we had seen so far, and pretty dirty! We watched here exploring the paths as she walked across the runway and into the willow brush. She was interesting to watch. We saw Frack and Radiohead walking along the skyline. They were pausing for breaks frequently. And it was almost lunch time, so we kept headed back to the lodge.
After lunch, it was pizza day, as we were prepping to leave again, we got summoned to the front porch to see a bear ambling down the roadway. It was the small female walking by. We ended up racing from the front of the compound to the back, and then returning to the front. As first, the female wandered by, then one of the males -Frack was slowly following her. He just seemed curious, but she wanted nothing to do with him so she kept on walking. There isn’t proper pack ice formed yet, but during low tide the shore ice can be thick enough for the bears to walk on. So the female kept heading out till Frack got bored and gave up. She found a nice flat chunk of ice to nap on.
Then it was back to the front as Radiohead came down the path, looking for his friends. He found Frack chilling near the compound by the shore, and the two of them tussled a bit and then took a nap. Our walk for the day got cancelled, as there were three bears so close to the compound! So we spent the afternoon watching them and the occasional arctic fox who scurried by.
After a while the female woke up and decided to walk south towards us, she was exploring the point of the lodge, but hadn’t realized the two trouble makers were napping on the shore. We watched with interest, as she slowly approached them. As soon as she realized there were two male bears near by she reversed direction and headed back across the ice. The boys woke up at this time, and decided they wanted to play with her. So another slow foot chase happened, as the boys just could not take a hint. Eventually the female made it to the shore and vanished into the willow brush. The boys gave up at this point and described to spar a bit more on the shore on the far side of the lagoon.
This was the hint for me to head inside and warm up. We had an afternoon presentation on Arctic Foxes with some mulled wine, followed by another excellent dinner. The evening was finished off with a presentation on the adaptions of arctic animals, then chatting by the fire before another early bed time.
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