Nat Hab's 2024 Guest Photo Contest

Location: Churchill, Mb, Canada

This photo was taken at Cape Merry, just outside of Churchill. It shows that Parks Canada and Nat Hab take visitor safety very seriously. These two guards were out in about 10 degree weather with at least 20-25 mph winds and a snow storm, patrolling the area where visitors can walk out to the bunker and cannon on the point. They patrol for polar bears that might try to come into the area. They do not have regular bulllets but what are called "cracker" shells. These make a very loud noise when shot off. They simply want to scare the bear away. In this case, Cape iMerry s right at the mouth of the Churchill River. The goal of these guards is to scare the bears to swim across the river to the other side, which the bears can do very easily. This morning, they had their eyes on a bear already on the other side of the river where this picture was taken. They were keeping an eye on the bear in case it decided try to come across the river to Cape Merry.