Could it be we are nearing the end of our fantastic remodel of the Conrad Prebys Polar Bear Plunge at the San Diego Zoo? Anyone who has remodeled their home knows the joys and dilemmas that improvement brings. Most of the work that impacted our bears was completed last fall with the building of our management yard and the experience wall.
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Last night, while watching snow boarders, ice skaters, and skiers hurtle themselves down and across frozen surfaces, I was excited to see the spotlight shared with the most amazing of “winter Olympians,” the polar bear. The piece focused on the polar bears of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, and scientists supported by Polar Bears International (PBI) who study them.
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It’s hard to believe how fast time is flying. It seems just last week we were still wondering if we’d be hearing the pitter patter of cub paws (see post Polar Bears: Waiting May Be Over). Now the air is filled with roaring earth movers, jack hammers, and concrete mixers as the work is progressing for the new educational experience at the San Diego Zoo’s Conrad Prebys Polar Bear Plunge.

Our cool trio is having a great time watching all the commotion. We think Kalluk wants to know why he can’t have a hard hat to wear, and Tatqiq would like them to all stop working and play with her at the glass. Chinook poses by the rock playing hard to get when she lures the contractors over for a peek.
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As you know by now (read posts New York Roommates and Packing for a Porcupine’s Flight), we have spent the week traveling around New York. We have been visiting with media and giving talks to different groups about polar bears and what is going on at the San Diego Zoo’s Conrad Prebys Polar Bear Plunge.
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Living with a porcupine and two tortoises in a hotel room in Manhattan is indeed as unique as it sounds, if for no other reason than everyone seems to be on a different sleep schedule! (Read Rick’s previous post, Packing for a Porcupine’s Flight.) Sure, there is plenty of “city noise” that comes through the closed windows, but honestly I can sleep through most of that, sirens, honking, and all. However, in-the-room noise is another story…
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Okay, so this sounds like a joke, but here it goes…Two San Diego Zoo keepers, a porcupine, and two tortoises get on a plane in San Diego. However there is no punch line, at least not yet, but there is a big adventure at hand for all involved.
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I recently had the pleasure of attending the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska. This meeting included presentations from scientists doing research throughout the north Pacific, as well as the Bering, Beaufort, and Chukchi seas. Climate change and human activities present tremendous challenges to certain species of wildlife in these remote marine and coastal locations. I was really impressed by the research efforts and ingenuity on display by scientists studying the lives of the whales, walruses, sea birds, and other wildlife living in the region.
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An update on our Chinook: she is no longer experiencing long, lazy days. No more sleep-ins or early good nights. She seems to have moved well out of what we think of as a false pregnancy and is ready to join our other two polar bears that are out watching our guests.
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JoAnne has just returned from studying polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Read her previous post, Polar Bears: Living in Churchill.

In November 2001, I journeyed to Churchill for the first time to see polar bears. The freezing cold and strong winds from the north stung. I could not believe that an animal that had the same body temperature as me could live in these conditions. I soon saw how incredibly specialized polar bears are for this arctic home. They were all thick furred and very round with the warm insulating blubber from their main prey, ringed seals.
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JoAnne is in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, to study polar bears. Read her previous post, Polar Bears: Tundra Heartbreak.

What it is like living in the Polar Bear Capital of the World? I am sharing my ninth fall here in Churchill with the folks that call this home. The town has approximately 900 residents, which dramatically increases with as many as 12,000 guests arriving to see the polar bears every fall.
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