Lingering sea ice brings polar bear population boom to Arviat

There may be more polar bears than trick-or-treaters roaming around Arviat this Halloween and climate change seems to be the culprit, say hunters in the hamlet.

Jimmy Muckpah monitors the sea ice along the west coast of Hudson Bay as part of his work with the Aqqiumavvik Society, a local wellness organization.

“This year was an unusual year. This year, the ice stayed to the middle of August,” Muckpah said. “Polar bears came early because of the ice around the coastline.”

Muckpah works using a sea ice sensor dragged behind a kamatik. Coupled with satellite imagery, he uses this data to provide hunters with up-to-date maps of safe passage along the shore.

In recent decades, sea ice along the west coast of Hudson Bay between Churchill, Man., and Arviat has typically broken up around mid-July, he said. That meant polar bears that feed along the food-rich ice edge would head onto land in midsummer, slowing their seasonal northern migration and causing them to disperse.

This year, Muckpah said, the ice remained firm near Arviat until nearly September. That allowed bears to roam further north more quickly until the late August breakup forced them back onto the land.

The bears were corralled to Arviat by a single resilient patch of ice that remained directly adjacent to the community.

By the time that ice finally disintegrated in early September, the polar bears had made landfall en masse near the community.

“And there have been polar bears that have been coming into town,” said Muckpah, adding Halloween will be held indoors at the arena as a precaution this year.

Kevin Tatryn, a senior meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, concurs with Muckpah’s sea-ice analysis.

“The unusual presence of sea ice along the west coast of Hudson Bay this year is mainly a product of strong easterly winds early in the melt season pushing ice from eastern and central Hudson Bay and compressing it along the western section of the bay,” said Tatryn.

“Usually, the wind direction over the western section of Hudson Bay is north/northwesterly at the beginning of the melt season.”

However, Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, or Inuit knowledge shared by elders, suggests the ice used to be a year-round mainstay of the Hudson Bay coastline near Arviat, said Muckpah and other hunters Nunatsiaq News interviewed.

“We talked with a couple of elders and they said the ice was usually around the coastline all yea- round back then,” Muckpah said, referring to climate patterns from the early twentieth century.

Whatever the cause, the result is more polar bears this year, said Alex Ishalook, chair of the Arviat Hunters and Trappers Association.

“Since spring of 2024 we started seeing more polar bears because the sea ice was closed all summer. The sea ice was still around in August. It was visible from the town,” said Ishalook.

“The polar bears travel north just like any other wildlife. If you travel along the coast not far from the community, you can see polar bears just a short walk away. I’ve seen myself quite a few mothers with cubs.”

Kelly Owlijoot, an Arviat-based helicopter pilot who works seasonally in northern Manitoba, had a bird’s eye view of the phenomenon as he travelled between Arviat and Churchill this summer.

“Polar bears walked along the ice, feeding until the ice receded,” he said.

“Polar bears like to hang out on the sea ice on Hudson Bay for as long as they can. There have been more than usual sightings around Arviat. We are encountering more bears.”

Arviat is protected by four bear monitors who work in shifts to cover the community 24 hours a day.

The community also receives six to eight polar bear tags in summer and fall — but Ishalook questions whether that’s enough considering the situation in the hamlet.

“Our polar bear quota has been reduced so much since 2007. We haven’t had our normal 20 polar bear tags from 2007 to today,” he said.

“All we can do is deter them, scare them away. If it’s destroying property, the community knows it can put them down. But at this time there is nothing much we can do.”

Ice typically re-forms along the west coast of Hudson Bay in late October, after which polar bears tend to move further offshore to feed.