VIP Canadian Polar Bear Photography Tour 2024 Week 1

2024 was another epic year for Polar Bear encounters in Churchill, Canada. This year we ran two back to back trips, which were both fantastic, with incredible polar bear photography opportunities. Here are some of the images I took on the first trip, and my notes from field. There were so many bears that I may have missed a few encounters, but we saw at least fourteen different bears on our best day, not to mention all the great foxes and other arctic wildlife. What a fantastic trip!

Day One – Arrival in Churchill

We saw our first bear on the beach before we even made it to the lodge! We stopped for a quick look, but then continued to lodge for everyone to change into warm gear and set up their cameras.

We spotted a mom with cubs kinda far off across the tundra, hunkered down in some trees on a hillside. Not a great photo op so we moved on.

Our fifth bear of the day was walking near the road. He gave us plenty of time to get out and set up cameras for some nice portraits.

The sixth bear we saw was exploring the tundra buggy staging area. We watched for a while but moved on to find a better bear in a nicer photographic setting.

The seventh bear was a big male, heading towards the rifle range – the range isn’t used when there are bears around!

Our eighth bear of the day was walking along infamous Polar Bear Alley in great late afternoon light.

Day One – Continued

As well as eight polar bears, we also had some great fox encounters on our first day (and every day afterwards). The most common foxes on the south shore of Hudson Bay are red foxes and cross foxes. Genetically, they are same species (Vulpes vulpes), but many on the south shore of Hudson Bay have this gorgeous black, brown, and grey colour variation that the locals call ‘cross foxes’.

In the evening, the Aurora Borealis came out in all its glory. Most of the people staying in town probably did not get a good look at it, but we stay at White Whale Lodge which is in the middle of the tundra, far from any light pollution, so we got a great show!

Day Two

The day started with our group watching a mom and her two cubs making a long transect across the open tundra.

Fourth polar bear: a solo bear snoozing near the gun range.

Fifth polar bear: a very active bear moving from one hydro pole to the next, sniffing the power lines. 

We found another (our sixth bear) obscured by rocks and trees at the west end of Polar Bear Alley.

Crossfox on the trail, posing right in front of the van.

Nice flock of ptarmigan in Bird Cove.

Then we ran into the mom and cubs again. They had made it to Polar Bear Alley and were wandering around close enough for selfies.

We also saw a nice cross fox that ran right up to the vehicle, and a nice flock of Ptarmigan in Bird Cove. Ptarmigan are brown in the summer, but turn completely white in the winter.

Day Three

We awoke to a nice blanket of snow covering the tundra.

Our first bear was off in the distance, up on a bluff. We quickly moved on. 

The second bear of the day was in Polar Bear Alley. We were distracted by a nice red fox hunting for lemmings in the willow bushes.

Then we ran into the mon and cubs again, still in PBA but tucked into a cliff to avoid a strong north westerly wind that had kicked up.   

Bear six and seven were resting on a big frozen lake, back from the coast.

Later we found a mom and coy (first year cub) foraging near the observation tower at Goose Creek.

Further along Goose Creek trail, we found another mom and coy (bears ten and eleven) feeding on a moose carcass. The cub’s face and neck were caked in blood, which clashed with the tender scene of the cub snuggling with its momma.

Day Four

We headed straight back to carcass to see if any other wildlife had stopped by. We found lots of tracks and few foxes running around, plus the same mom and cub still in the area but not feeding.

We spent some time watching the mom and cub. There is a status quo between bears and humans living in the north. Bears and humans coexist quite well, but when bears start approaching buildings, they are gently encouraged to leave the area to avoid property damage and injury to the bears and/or humans. So when the mom and cub wandered over to the city pump house and started pushing on the doors. We called conservation, who would show up later to haze the bears away from the area.

We watched a second mom and cub resting on the ice, way out on the Churchill River and then made our way east to look for better photographic opportunities. On the way we came across an arctic hare sitting in the bushes. 

Later we returned to Polar Bear Alley to find our familiar mom and two large cubs tucked into the rocks.

Our eighth bear of the day was having a great time repeatedly sliding down a slope, possibly cleaning its fur, but it may just have been having fun. 

We found our ninth and final bear walking across the distant tundra. It was a nice scene but the light was getting too low for photography so we made our way back to cozy White Whale Lodge. 

Day Five

We started the day with wolverine tracks around a lake, but no wolverine to be seen. They are incredible secretive most of the time, and travel great distances.

I spotted a short eared owl inflight, which we tracked until it landed. 

Our same superstar Mom and cubs were rolling around and resting on each other in Polar Bear Alley. 

Our fourth bear of the day was a loner wedged in the rocks further along the Alley. 

Amazingly, we found another pair of short eared owls in a copse of spruce trees. Great to see so many in one day!

Next we came across a beautiful cross fox, and later some nice red foxes out hunting.

I spotted our second arctic hare near Cape Merry. Not a hard spot because it was framed against the dark granite of the Canadian Sheild.

Our fifth bear was laying way out on the tundra, but our sixth approached so closely that I had to switch to my phone to fit it in the frame!

Day Six

Our final day started with a red fox running around next to a lake. After a quick fox photo shoot, we swung by Polar Bear Alley to find our favorite bear family snoozing in the rocks. 

We ran into another pair of red foxes on the way to the Ithaca wreck in the next bay.

Our fourth bear was resting in some willows near the gun range.  

Then we spotted a mom and cub way across the lake, but they were too far away for good images. 

We moved on to an area known as Camp Nanook where we found a large male polar bear in amazing light. 

Bear number eight showed up along the coast near the Ithaca shipwreck. This one was a really close long encounter! 

Shortly afterwards, another polar bear walking west through the tundra. Slowly closed the gap and walked right past our van. 

Our tenth polar bear of the day showed up when we were not even looking for one. It came right up to the fence of the lodge, which is one of the many awesome reasons that we stay at White Whale Lodge!

Heading back onto the tundra, we found another young adult bear that approached our vehicle in Bird Cove. The rule is that you are not allowed to let polar bears touch your vehicle, so we were ready to start making noises or beat a hasty retreat if it decided to close the gap.

Finally, we saw yet another mom with two two-year-old cubs walking around the bay towards us between Ithaca Point and Bird Cove. 

Fourteen bears in total on our final day! A fantastic finish to our trip!

Join our 2025 VIP Polar Bear Photography Adventure

All of this year’s polar bear trips were incredible! Not surprisingly, our 2025 trips are almost full already, but we still have a little room if you would like to join us on our next VIP Polar Bear Photography Adventure.