awildlifejourney
Polar bear walking straight toward the camera on a gravel ridge, Hudson Bay behind it
58.8° N · 94.2° W · OCTOBER

Churchill

A week on the shore of Hudson Bay, where the polar bears spend the autumn waiting for the ice.

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Region
Churchill, Manitoba, western Hudson Bay
Dates
17–23 October 2026
Transport
Car with a local guide
Observed
Polar bear, red fox, hare

Every autumn, polar bears gather along the coast around Churchill. They are not here for the town. They are waiting for the ice. Hudson Bay melts completely in summer, usually by July, and the bears are forced ashore. Their food, mainly ringed seals, lives out on the sea ice, and without it they cannot hunt.

So they fast. For around four months they live off the fat they built up on the ice in spring, losing close to a kilogram of body weight a day. Pregnant females go even longer, up to eight months without food. Most of what you see is bears saving energy: lying in the kelp, dozing between the willows, walking slowly along the shore. Young males spar, which looks like a fight and is mostly play.

From October on they move to the coast, because this stretch of the bay is among the first to freeze. As soon as the new ice can carry their weight, they walk out onto it, and within a few days the shore is empty again. The ice-free season is now several weeks longer than it was in the 1980s, and the population of western Hudson Bay has roughly halved since then.

We spent the week by car with a local guide, along the coast, the rocky shoreline and the edge of the forest. This is a selection of what we saw.

Photos

Twenty-five photographs from the shore of Hudson Bay.
Polar bear walking down a tundra slope, backlit, fur glowing at the edges
Polar bear · low sun
Close portrait of a young polar bear looking straight into the camera
Polar bear · portrait
Two young polar bears on the rocks, the wreck of the Ithaca in the bay behind them
Polar bears · in front of the wreck
Polar bear mother with eyes closed, nursing two cubs among willows
Mother and cubs · nursing
Polar bear mother yawning while two cubs nurse, red kelp in the foreground
Mother and cubs · in the kelp
Polar bear family resting on the shore, one cub standing and looking around
Polar bear family · at low tide
Polar bear mother and two cubs climbing over dark rock
Mother and cubs · on the rocks
Polar bear mother walking ahead of two cubs along a gravel track
Polar bear family · on the move
Two polar bears resting on a tundra slope in late afternoon backlight
Polar bears · resting
Two polar bears sparring upright between spruce trees
Polar bears · sparring
Polar bear rolling on its back in the willows, paws in the air
Polar bear · rolling
Polar bear cub climbing a marker post while its sibling watches
Cubs · at the marker post
Young polar bear walking toward the camera in warm evening light
Polar bear · evening light
Polar bear mid-stride, side light on its fur, the bay in the background
Polar bear · mid-stride
Polar bear walking toward the camera between boulders on a gravel beach
Polar bear · between the boulders
Close side profile of a polar bear standing on rocks in warm light
Polar bear · profile
Polar bear standing between small spruce trees, looking at the camera
Polar bear · at the forest edge
Polar bear crossing tidal pools, reflected in the water
Polar bear · tidal pools
Polar bear swimming in calm water, head raised
Polar bear · swimming
Wet polar bear wading out of the water, drops falling from its chin
Polar bear · leaving the water
Polar bear walking through fog, black and white
Polar bear · in the fog
Polar bear sniffing around parked pickup trucks on a gravel lot
Polar bear · by the trucks
Red fox standing on a gravel road, looking at the camera
Red fox · on the road
Hare in white winter coat sitting in brown tundra vegetation
Hare · winter coat, no snow yet
Street signs and power lines in Churchill at dusk
Churchill · dusk in town
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