Tag Archives: ashore

Lingering late season sea ice brings polar bear visitor to northern Newfoundland

Polar bear season for St. Lunaire-Griquet Newfoundland ran from 6 March to 10 June this year — three long months when polar bears came to visit the community during the season when bears are usually occupied with feeding on young seals and mating.

Newfoundland polar bear 10 June 2018_Iceberg Festival Committee_Thresa Burden photo

Below is a map of the region: St. Lunaire-Griquet is at the tip of the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, just north of St. Anthony (where some of the action in my polar bear attack thriller, EATEN, takes place):

Saint Lunaire Griquet Newfoundland location_Google maps

As of yesterday (June 10), when the last sighting of a fat and healthy polar bear took place, there was still quite a mass of thick first year ice (>1.2 m thick) off the northern peninsula of Newfoundland, amongst a field of icebergs:

Hudson Bay North daily stage of development 2018 June 10 ice warning

The first sighting in the area this year was back in early March, which I blogged about here. Fortunately, the Davis Strait bears that occupy the East Coast pack ice are usually well feed at this time of year and seldom pose a serious threat to humans: the fact that visitors ashore are often easily pursuaded to leave (or do so on their own) suggests they are more curious than hungry.

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Dead polar bear washed ashore in NE Newfoundland, cause of death unknown

A dead polar bear was found on the shore of northeastern Newfoundland yesterday but the cause of death has not yet been determined.

From the local Telegram (5 June 2017):

“[Ann] Peddle of Bristol’s Hope was out for her morning walk when she came across the carcass of a polar bear that had washed ashore. The carcass had drifted between the rocks near the wharf in Bristol’s Hope, according to Peddle.

Peddle took some quick photos of the bear to post to social media before contacting the wildlife department at around 8:30 a.m.”

Ann Peddle took the photo below, which was printed with the above story:

Bristols Hope Nfld dead bear Telegraph June 5 2017_Ann Peddle

 

See the map below for the location of Bristol’s Hope in NE Newfoundland, along the west shore of Conception Bay  (see map at end of post for the names of the bays):
Bristols Hope Newfoundland location June 6 2017

Was this a death by drowning or some other, more likely cause?
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