Teen Arctic Ambassador Lives Life in the North

Posted at 9:37 pm September 28, 2009 by Daniel Straub

This young male bear hung around our tundra buggy this afternoon

Getting to the Arctic Circle is not easy. When we left San Diego on Sunday, September 27, the weather forecast was predicting highs in the upper 90s. So the hard part started before I even left, having to put warm clothes in a suitcase with such hot weather outside. We stopped in Winnipeg for the first night and then flew onward to Churchill on a small plane that carried 16 of us teen ambassadors from places in Canada, the U.S., and Australia. I am attending Polar Bears International’s Teen Leadership Camp for a week. This cool program is done as a partnership between Polar Bears International and the Arctic Ambassador Center network of zoos that is headquartered at the San Diego Zoo.

Being the Arctic Ambassador from San Diego Zoo means that I get to represent our awesome zoo and city on this adventure in the Arctic. It also means that when I get home, I plan to share my experience with my hometown and hopefully get people to care about polar bears and want to make a difference for them. In the meantime, I will do my best to post photos and notes from the Arctic as long as our Internet on the Tundra Buggy Lodge holds up. It seems crazy that we are out here parked on the edge of the Arctic Ocean and it seems like we should be disconnected from the world but, as long as it’s not too windy or snowy, we have a microwave feed going to town.

Today we saw a cool polar right outside our tundra buggy vehicle. He was technically the third bear we have seen in the two days we have been here but the other two were at more of a distance. A small bear, probably two years old, was walking down the road in front of our vehicle as we traveled to the Lodge. It ran off into the willows near another larger bear, maybe its mom.

The author learns to scare away polar bears by making noise shooting cracker shells.

On Monday, when we arrived in Churchill, we had some really exciting experiences. I touched the Arctic Ocean and then ran away from the cold water. Definitely NOT Pacific Beach in August. We also met with some Manitoba Conservation officers at the bear detention center and they told us about their amazing program for darting and keeping “trouble bears.” They don’t want to have to catch them, so the first thing they do is try to scare them aware from the town of Churchill by shooting cracker shells and screamers into the air. It just sounds like fireworks, but it’s scary enough for some bears and they run off. The officers gave a few of us the chance to try out the cracker pistol. I gave it a shot.

Daniel Straub is the San Diego Zoo’s 2009 Teen Arctic Ambassador.

Posted in Bear Awareness, Default, Field Studies, General, Polar Bears, The Zoo Journal | Link to this post

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8 Responses to “Teen Arctic Ambassador Lives Life in the North”

1. Linda says:
   September 30th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

   What a great job !!!
   How I’d love to see the polar bears in there natural habitat. They are such awesome creatures and no matter how big enclosures are they can never compete with the artic area that they natural inhabit.
   I look forward to some great pictures and news on your return.

2. Marcia says:
   September 30th, 2009 at 2:57 pm

   How awesome this whole adventure is for you! Being able to see these magnificent bears as God intended must be breath taking.

3. Lid says:
   October 1st, 2009 at 10:13 am

   Have Fun!! which I know you will and you are sooooo LUCKY! keep us posted ya hear!

4. Susan (UK) says:
   October 1st, 2009 at 10:21 am

   I was listening to my usual radio programme this afternoon. Every day they have a ‘Webcam of the Day’ which you can get to via the radio website. Today the DJ was telling us about the annual Polar Bear migration in Churchill and all about the ‘trouble’ bears who go to ‘polar bear prison’! He then said to see this, go to our website and click on the link. I thought, wow, I want to see this and found the link. Guess where it sent me? Right here!! You’re getting famous, SDZ. And so you should be. I hope lots of people clicked on the link, although it was 8am in the morning for you, and decided to explore the site. Still trying to figure out what happened to watching bears in Canada though….

   There have been some lovely close-ups of the bears this week. I think it might be time that they get a new kiddy pool though, it’s totally flat now. Looks like it’s been run over by a truck!

5. Diana S. says:
   October 1st, 2009 at 11:55 am

   Thank you for your post. We will be looking forward to more news and pictures. How wonderful for you that you get to take part in such an adventure! Enjoy it to the fullest. And more publicity for SDZ equals a really good thing too!!

6. kathy, canada says:
   October 1st, 2009 at 1:20 pm

   What an adventure! Love that photo of the young bear, it’s very encouraging to see a sub adult looking so healthy and strong! Can’t wait to hear and see more about your trip.

7. Ryan Wolf says:
   October 1st, 2009 at 4:31 pm

   I hope you’re having a wonderful time! We all miss you in San Diego! The pictures look amazing. Im excited to hear all about the polar bears up there and all that you learned.

8. Donald says:
   October 1st, 2009 at 9:50 pm

   What an amazing adventure. Now this means you’ve seen grizzlies & polar bears in nature. This trip is one to be remembered forever. Thanks for the great pictures & I’m sure water in Pacific Beach will feel like a jacuzzi compared to what you felt in the Arctic. Way to go!!! We’ll see you when you get back to SD.

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