Polar bears, including a litter of triplet cubs (a sign of very good health), are gathering near Churchill, Manitoba where new ice is forming along the coast. This means the fall seal hunt will soon begin, depending on the winds (it might be a few days from now or a few weeks).

See below for some of the images of bears on the shore of Wapusk National Park taken by Explore.org video cams from Tundra Buggy-based cameras, as well as the most recent Churchill problem bear report.

Overall, Sea Ice Coverage (3 November 2022)

For context:

Hudson Bay Sea ice charts (4 November 2022)

For Northern and Southern Hudson Bay, courtesy Canadian Ice Service

Wapusk National Park polar bear images

All from 2-4 November 2022

Churchill Problem Bear Report

After 14 weeks onshore this year (24-30 October 2022), there have been relatively few problems bear issues (78 to date):

In 2020, bears came ashore four weeks later (last week in August) and sea ice formed earlier, so most bears had left shore by the 2nd week in November and yet in 2020 there were more problem bear issues at that point (108, after 12 weeks ashore) than in 2022 after 14 weeks ashore:

Compared this year to 2017, which began two weeks earlier than 2022: at the same point in the season (week 14, 9-15 October 2017), there had been about as many problem bear issues (86) as there were this year (78):

via polarbearscience

November 4, 2022

Polar bear triplet litter spotted near Churchill as ice starts to form along west coast of Hudson Bay | polarbearscience