Where is the polar bear? What should Churchill pay attention to when shooting polar bears?

As we all know, bears are actually very dangerous, so we must pay attention to safety when we go to see polar bears. The following small series will introduce some related strategies about polar bears. Let's have a look.

: where is it?

1. The best place to watch polar bears is Churchill, Canada.

2. reason: because of eating.

Things about animals on this planet can basically be explained in two words: food. Reproduction.

Polar bears are no exception.

Let's first look at the distribution of polar bears:

Ile-de-france, northern and western Alaska, Canadian Arctic Territory and its islands, Greenland, Svalbard-Fran? ois Islands, north-central Siberia and Russia are all distributed in these places.

How many polar bears are there in the Arctic?

About 2W!

As can be seen from the above picture, the number of polar bears is second only to 2W on the vast land and islands around the Arctic Ocean. And this product has always been maverick. Except for the mother bear and the cubs, almost all of them act alone. In such a vast Arctic region, it is difficult to see more polar bears than 2W. A friend is near Longyearbyen in Svalbard. He has been driving a snowmobile all day and hasn't seen a bear yet.

So where is the best place to see polar bears?

There is no one in Churchill, Canada. There is no doubt about this: the polar bear capital of the world.

Polar bears are 100% visible in the bear watching season here!

Churchill Town: (red part above) North Manitoba, Canada, on the west bank of Hudson Bay. There are nearly 1 1000 polar bears near September 9- 10/0 every year. The total population of the town is only about 800 people, a place where there are more bears than people.

Then, in the vast Arctic region, why are there so many polar bears near Churchill Town from September to June165438+1October? Food. Let's talk about polar bear food first.

The food intake is huge: adult polar bears can reach 10 foot, which is 2.6m, and some people say it can reach more than 3 m. With a maximum weight of 900 kilograms, it is the largest land carnivore on earth. It is conceivable that the appetite is also amazing. The polar bear's main food is ringed seals. They must eat enough seal fat as food reserves in winter to spend the summer.

So the question is, why did you survive this summer?

Tough summer: Because polar bears have to hunt seals on the ice. Arctic overlord has a strong sense of smell and can sniff out seals several meters thick under the ice. They will wait for hours by the ice cave where seals breathe. When the seal comes out to breathe, they will shoot the seal (yes, it is Hao Maoxian's Cockroach) out of the ice and kill it. Well, concerted action, one go. The polar bear with inconsistent movements starved to death. Therefore, when summer comes and the sea melts, the hunting range of polar bears is greatly reduced and it is almost impossible to get food. They must live on body fat for a long time of 4-5 months. If you are really hungry, sleep in summer.

Every year from June 65438+ 10 to June 165438+ 10, Hudson Bay near Churchill Town will become the first place in the Arctic to freeze. A large number of polar bears who have been hungry for half a year will wait near Churchill Town as early as September. Wait for Hudson Bay to freeze overnight and then go hunting. Hungry!

Why don't polar bears wait until the ice freezes? Why did they come so early? After all, I've been hungry for four or five months, so queue up for dinner early!

Why was Hudson Bay the first to freeze?

The first reason is that the annual average temperature in Hudson Bay is lower than that in other areas of adjacent latitudes.

The second is: low salinity and high freezing point. Because the bay is frozen most of the year, the evaporation rate in the bay is relatively slow; Moreover, a large amount of river fresh water is injected into the bay; The opening connected with the ocean is small, which makes the injection of high salinity seawater less; These three reasons make Hudson Bay have low salinity, high freezing point and early freezing.

Polar bears that have been hungry for several months have long discovered through years of evolution that this is the earliest place where they can hunt in winter. As early as September, nearly 1000 polar bears will wait here for Hudson Bay to freeze. Freezing is equivalent to putting the table in front of you!

To sum up, the early freezing of Hudson Bay caused by low temperature and low salt made a large number of polar bears hungry for half a year wait for the start of the hunting season here. Therefore, Churchill Town near Hudson Bay has become the best place to watch polar bears in the world.

By the way, I said that the popularity of 100% depends on the time, so we should go at the right time.

So when is the best viewing period? From the end of 65438+ 10 to the middle of 165438+ 10, about 20 days. Why is this?

Because it's still early, the snow hasn't fallen, and the bare dark ground is dirty and ugly. If you go late, the cold wind will blow overnight, Hudson Bay will freeze and polar bears will suddenly disappear without a trace. When Hudson Bay freezes, it can travel hundreds of meters in one night. )

So it snowed only in the end of June, 65438+1October and the middle of June,165438+1October, but the temperature was not as low as the best time in the 20 days when Hudson Bay was frozen.

However, this is a huge and expensive project, and many of them are old people from abroad. I don't know how much you like photographing animals. I understand it as "professional photographer".

traffic

The number of people in the world who can see polar bears during the best observation period is extremely limited. Why is this?

Because there are only two ways to see polar bears in Churchill:

The first is to live in Churchill and then take a tundra car. See the figure below:

The advantage of this tundra car is that it is relatively cheap. Disadvantages: usually one day. It takes two hours to drive to the skating rink to find bears every morning, and then drive back at night. It takes a long time, but it takes a short time to see bears.

The second is to stay in the tundra motor inn as shown below. Take the tundra bus to see bears in the morning.

The two carriages on the left side of this tundra motel are for accommodation, and the two carriages in the middle are sightseeing bus, where food and accommodation are all in the car. Can be said to be living with polar bears! Polar bears are everywhere around the tundra motel. During the day, take a tundra car directly from here to look for polar bears near the inn. Sleep at night and listen to the snoring of polar bears. If you are lucky, you can shoot the aurora or something at night.

Like this:

The advantage of this game is obvious: you can spend more time watching bears and simply play with them. Don't reach out in front of the hungry bear! ) You can also shoot the aurora at night. The disadvantage is also obvious: it is too expensive!

There seems to be only one company in the world that runs tundra motels. You can only use these cars. The best viewing period is only about 200 per year. There are fewer people than the North Pole! The tundra motel was robbed by major travel agencies around the world a year ago. There are only 200 places in the world. How can we satisfy the local tyrants in the world? Faced with this situation, the operators of tundra bus station will never have any preferential treatment, and the price will increase year by year. Think about it, people only do business for a few months a year. The products of this inn are divided into five days, three days and two days. One of the most sought-after is the 3-day tour. The golden observation period is less than 70 positions. Ah, this world. If you only like shooting animals, then you must like it very much to make this decision. Of course, local tyrants are free.

I forgot, it's best to bring a 600mm fixed-focus lens. Well, right, right, right, that is, a lens is more expensive than Churchill's trip, fixed focus lens!