First Day in Churchill
Posted at 7:38 am October 1, 2006 by Shelby S.
Shelby is studying wild polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, through the Science Leadership Camp for teens, sponsored by Polar Bears International (PBI). Read her previous blog entry: Touchdown in Canada and First Impressions.
Hey everyone!
Our first day in Churchill, Manitoba has finally arrived. The weather didn’t look too dandy from the air, and our eyes did not fool us. Once we settled in to our HUGE condo-like rooms, a few of us went out to explore in the very cloudly city of Churchill. It reminded me of the dense morning fog we get in Huntington Beach, but back in California it wears off by noon. I would love to tell you it does the same here in Churchill, but as we were walking through, it started to drizzle. All of us laughed it off, while shivering of course. Sure enough, by the time we left the supermarket, which has the most expensive ice cream due to the transportation fees of getting it up here, it was pretty close to pouring.
As our small band of explorers left, we noticed four huskey puppies tied up outside a closed store. Now, I love all dogs, but huskies and golden retrievers have a special soft spot in my heart. When I saw these four adorable dogs, my heart melted and the rain seemed to vanish…until it started to drip down from my soaking hair onto my frozen face. My friends from Maryland, Candace and Jesse, were just as happy as I was to be with the dogs. The three of us continued to brave the rain to play with them, and after our brains were frozen, we started to walk away.Then we heard the puppies calling out to us. With heavy hearts we glanced back at the four artic dogs (did I mention they all were different colors?), and continued back to our cozy rooms.
I must mention dinner because it was, well umm, extraordinary. The mayor of Churchill was there in the restaurant with us. It turns out he owns the restaurant. He spoke to our group about the past, present, and future of this small town and how important the polar bears are to the people there. He was proud of his town and was glad that we were interested in this place and the polar bears. They used to shoot the polar bears if they came into town. But he says now he is glad that people from all over the world come to Churchill to shoot pictures, not shotguns.
Shelby S. is the San Diego Zoo’s Arctic Ambassador.
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October 3rd, 2006 at 5:12 pm
That sounds really cool so far! And those husky puppies sound so cute too!
October 5th, 2006 at 11:48 am
Were you able to find out anything about the puppies? It sounds like they might have been getting ready for training for life in the ” backwoods” or out on the ice floes.