Photographer lived among bears for 33 days on Hudson Bay

What would you do if a bear was running toward you?

A big, hungry polar bear.

Well, Martin Gregus decided to do nothing. He just stood still and continued doing what he was doing — taking photos.

Gregus is a wildlife photographer. He travelled to a remote island in Nunavut’s coastal waters two hours north of Churchill, Man., twice, in 2020 and 2021. In total, he spent 33 days living among polar bears.

In that time, he made a film 33 Days Among Bears and took photos of the polar bears in the fireweed. The photos were featured in National Geographic and one will appear on the cover of the July/August issue of Canadian Geographic.

“When you see a bear is running at you, your instinct is to leave because… there’s a bear running at you,” Gregus said with a chuckle in a recent Zoom interview from Vancouver, where he lives.

“It’s a split-second decision. There are a million things going on in your head. But I’m a photographer, and that’s the shot I wanted.”

The bear was actually running to grab a tern chick that was swimming in the direction of the photographer’s boat. The bear grabbed the chick only a few metres away from the boat.

“My heart is still racing when I think of it,” Gregus said.

A potential cover of the July/August issue of Canadian Geographic features a photo by Martin Gregus of the bear named Scar who was featured in National Geographic. (Image courtesy of Canadian Geographic magazine)

Now, Canadian Geographic is asking its readers to vote for one of two photos by Gregus they want to see on the cover of a future issue.

An unnamed bear in fireweed. A second potential cover for Canadian Geographic using a photo shot by Martin Gregus. (Image courtesy of Canadian Geographic magazine)

The choice is between one showing a big male bear Gregus called Scar, sleeping among flowers, or another with an unnamed bear looking right into the camera surrounded by the fireweed. Voting opened May 2.

“We were literally just trying to survive,” Gregus said, recalling his time on Hudson Bay.

“When I talked to my family saying, you know, I love you guys, see you tomorrow. Maybe.”

And his family was scared, Gregus said.

“My girlfriend tells me, ‘I didn’t think you were coming back. Your parents were terrified. They did not sleep for the whole time,’” he said.

For Gregus, this trip was a dare.

He said making the decision to go was like an “abusive relationship” between one part of himself that wanted to stay safely at home and the other that wanted to do something extraordinary.

The latter won.

Gregus is not the first photographer in his family. His father, Martin Gregus Sr., is also a photographer who always wanted to take photos in remote places, such as the islands of Hudson Bay.

Gregus Sr. didn’t have the option to travel when he was younger because he was born and made his career in communist Czechoslovakia. But he got the chance to live out some of his dream when he joined his son toward the end of his trip.

“I think he was especially proud [of me] because he lived in a country where he couldn’t travel,” Gregus said. “We are like the same person. Same dreams and aspirations. It was especially emotional for him.”

The July/August issue of Canadian Geographic hits newsstands on June 17 in eastern Canada and June 24 in the west.