Churchill - Day Six



Gluing down cores



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Well last night was a bust for the northern lights. Everyone woke up at various times to check it out but it was rainy and overcast, so we all just got tired. It was good to  take care of the previous days work ( gluing down core samples into trays) . We headed out to a new site  along a pond and began coring tree trunks. Weather was sunny, cool and windy. Had an observation from a group of visiting possible funders in the project. It was good to be able to speak intelligently about the research we are conducting.

 Our biggest thrill was when we were leaving the site in the morning and we were alerted to a polar bear siting. Sure enough, off in the distance was a bear coming from the bay inland. All the photographic and magnifying equipment came  whipping out. We were fascinated by the quick movement of a large and animal. He was about a mile away but we could clearly see his white body moving through the brownish terrain even without binoculars. Everyone was  a little more alert during our afternoon work!

The winds died down and we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon on the tundra. We left early to get supplies in town and were treated to another wildlife sighting - this time , belugas whales just off the coast.

baby belugas

 You could see their white bodies surfacing while they were catching dinner. There must have been at least a hundred of them.Hopefully we will see them up close tomorrow on our day off in town. Came back to another fine dinner at the center.

ice wedge pond

wolf print

fox den

arctic fox

Took a drive deeper into the boreal forest area. Our director knows the land extremely well and is an excellent tour guide. Some of the highlights were seeing an arctic fox, wolf footprints, snow goose, and bear dens. We wre able to dig only a few inches below the surfaceto touch an icesheet (permafrost layer). We ended up at one side of Twin Lakes for a beautiful sunset on the lakeshore.