Well this morning we were told that a Polar Bear was sighted near the town,
down near the dump and where the sled dogs are kept. We wondered if it was a wind-up of newbies but the local community Facebook page confirmed this and added that it had been chased away from the town to islands beyond the mouth of the
Sylvia Grinnell River. Of course we got in the car to go and have a look. We
found a lovely viewpoint near the satellite dishes and I took some photos as we
scanned the river for signs of movement. Of course we didn't see anything but
we spoke to some official looking people who confirmed its movements. The idea
that we could go looking for the possibility of seeing a polar bear is pretty
amazing.
I still have seen precious little wildlife – my bird list is five
species long and we have seen no mammals. Probably in part due to poor weather,
the ice in the bay and the likelihood of any animal worth eating being hunted by humans. For
perspective, when we were in the retreat centre in June in just two days I put
five bird species on my list, gave up on trying to identify others and saw at
least four types of animal. We have now been here three weeks and five days. Below are photos I took today.
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| Three of the many dogs in the sled dog area. |
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| A sled dog. |
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| View of the hills. |
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| At the mouth of Sylvia Grinnell River. |
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| Some of the last ice on the river. |
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| One side of Sylvia Grinnell Falls. |
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| The other part of the Falls. |
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| An Inushuk - pile of stones telling others where good hunting is to be found or food is stored. |
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| Mouth of the river. |
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| Fisherman on the river. |
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| The tiny flowers of Moss-Campion. |
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| Looking north and up river. |
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| The river mouth. |
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| Islands in the river mouth. |
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| The full width of Sylvia Grinnell Falls. |
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| Looking up river. |
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| A few satellite dishes of the many around and in the town. |
