The Sea-Ice

First attempt at ice-fishing at a nearby lake called, Long Lake. Caught nothing!

I can't believe how quickly everything froze up here in and around Whale Cove. I know lakes and ponds had started to freeze since mid October, but never had I imagined the ocean would freeze so fast. It literary started freezing November 10th. and by November 17th. the ice had moved out a few kilometres. 

Andy and I at Long Lake

November is the begining of polar bear hunting season for Whale Cove, and sure enough there was a town hall meeting on how to use and divide the tags. The twon gets 7 tags, and it is up to the majority on how to use the tags. This year they decided to have 4 open tags and 3 by a draw. This means the first 4 are open to anyone in town, first sees first shoots, and then there will be a draw for the first of the remaing 3. The person whose name is drawn would have up to 72 hours to get a bear. If no luck, there would be another draw for the same tag. If they manage to shoot a bear, then there will be a draw for the remaining tags. So this is basically how it is done. It didn't take long for all 7 tags to go, less than a week!

Polar bear tags meeting

The rush to head out in the middle of the night to look for bears was amazing. I thought hunters would wait until next morning to go after bears, but they took off right after the meeting. It was an exciting time for everyone. The most number of ATV's and snowmobiles in one plcae I had ever seen. There was a genuine feeling of walking by a traffic jam, in Whale Cove!

Many rushing out of the town hall meeting, in hope of a chance at a polar bear!  

First bear of the season. Took my class to watch the skinning

November also brought my first trip as a coach with a group of students. We had signed up for the Table Tennis Territorial Championship in Iqaluit. We were allowed to take 6 students, 3 girls and 3 boys, ages 12-17. We started regular practice sessions, then followed that up with a tryout and more practice sessions for those who had made the team. Even though we only practiced for a month, all of our players did great. It was a great experience for them to challenge and play (literary day and night) with kids from all over Nunavut. They are great kids to travel with, so easy to coach and chaperone. I'll do it again any time!

Inuglak school ping pong team

Iqaluit, capital of Nunavut, is a twon of about 7000 people. It seems like it has most of the amenities of a small city, schools, hospital, ice rink, movie theatre, and numerous hotels. Unfortunately it lacked one facility I was desparately hoping it would, a swimming pool. Kids loved that place though. For them simply being able to go out shopping for stuff (video games, headphones,…) that kids in bigger towns take for granted was exciting. I on the other hand wasn't very impressed with Iqaluit. I much rather Whale Cove than places like Iqaluit that are perhaps desparately trying to be like another city in Canada.

View of the bay, Iqaluit

Although hearing and constantly being warned about polar bears, I didn't see any until the thrid week of November. Bear sightings became very common after the last tag of the season was gone We get announcements about their whereabout on an almost daily basis. Whale Cove is on the migration route of polar bears. From November through early January there are lots of bears around. I got to see the first live bear at a distance of about 200m or os. It was patiently lying on ice overlooking the frozen ocean. It looked pretty relaxed, lifting its head once in a while to see what was going on.

Can you see the bear, the yellowish figure on the ice/snow mound

I saw another bear about the same time the next day, as I was jogging. I wasn't alone though, our conservation officer and a local friend were trying to scare it off by firing bear bangers (a flare and a firework inside a shotgun shell that explodes at highest point of its flight). I go for my jogs during lunch hour as it gets pretty dark and cold after work. Our work day is done by 4:10pm, and sun sets before 3:00pm these days.

Some of our students playing hockey while we were ice fishing

Surprisingly I don't need to wear too many layers when I go for a run. Two layers of Ice-Breaker merino wool for the top, and an Ice-Breaker long johns with shorts is all it takes. I am so grateful to the person who introduced me to this fine fabric/brand. The only part I feel cold is my feet; the meshed and super light weight running shoes are not a smart choice for running in the arctic! Although I keep my routes inside the town, I still get warned about bears regularly. It is nice to see how seriously they view bear threat. This way both people and bears stay safe. On more than a few occasions I was offered ride by locals on snowmobiles and trucks when walking home from school or the Co-op.

A giant polar bear track on the sea ice.

The frozen ocean is almost all around us, inviting everyone for a nice and scenic walk on it. I have seen snowmobiles driving on the ice, but yet to see anyone walking on it. Apparently the sea ice, and the rocks on the shore are the perfect place for bears to wait before heading out to the floe edge. I was expecting this migration to be over soon, as the sea has been frozen for a few weeks now. But bears from further south still making their way up to these areas before finally heading out to the floe edge in almost all directions!

Jagged section of the sea ice close to the shore

In fact last night there were three bears on the sea ice where we, my roommate Andy and I, had taken a walk earlier today. We weren't aware of it though. Don, a local friend told us while we were about 500m out on the sea ice. He came by on his snowmobile for a chat when he saw us walking out there.

Smoother sea ice further out. Sun so low in the sky at 1:00pm 

I often want to take a few more photos whenever I am out and about, but can't seem to keep my hands out of gloves and mitts long enough to do that. It feels so bitter cold, even after only a few seconds, that I find it impossible to snap more than 2 or 3 photos at a time. Even then, it takes me a good 5-10 minutes before being able to handle another 20-30 seconds of cold air on fingers. I have so much respect for locals who go on driving snowmobiles for hours, searching for games to hunt. The same goes for wild life photographers and filmmakers, so much respect for them all.

The extreme cold does have its advantages though. Never have to worry about dust, dirty shoes, or ice cubes for that matter. If I need ice cubes for a drink, all I need to do is to leave the tray outside for 10 minutes. A chilled glass for a cold drink, 5 minutes. Life is great, isn't it?

Cheers!

Natural freezer in front of house: muskox, arctic char, caribou,...