A philanthropic media organization is streaming live coverage of the polar bear migration from the Churchill area over the Internet.
Courtesy of explore.org, Polar Bears International, Frontiers North Adventures
Explore.org, which is also the multimedia division of the Annenberg Foundation created by filmmaker and philanthropist Charles Annenberg, is joining forces with Frontiers North and Polar Bears International to take a roving studio with live HD streaming capabilities to follow the bears along the Hudson Bay coast as they pass the time waiting for the water to freeze by digging, napping, sparring (play fighting) and, eventually, testing the ice.
Visit the following links for more polar bear footage from Churchill:
Polar bears sparring: http://explore.org/videos/player/polar-bears-sparring-11-11-2012
Polar bears blog highlights: http://blog.explore.org/tag/polar-bears-2/
Polar bear cam highlight videos from explore.org's YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA3BEC1FDD654BC1B
Each year, an estimated 1,000 polar bears begin their migration from the region of Churchill, Manitoba’s port, which is nicknamed “Polar Bear Capital of the World,” gathering near the town to wait for the bay to freeze over so they can begin hunting seals and other marine mammals.
In recent years, Explore.org has used live non-stop coverage of the annual migration, which it describes as “ground zero for biologists, climate experts, other scientists and tourists who come every year to witness and analyze the bears’ annual trek,” to bring attention to shifts in the Earth’s climate.
“The polar bears are the high priests of the arctic cathedral,” said explore.org founder Annenberg. “And the bears’ story in Churchill is a simple one that requires very little language. Everyone watching knows the bears are starving, in part because of the changes in the global climate, and viewers are anxiously waiting for the ice to freeze so the bears can go eat. This powerful moment is an authentic way to mark the coming of winter, and a poignant illustration of our changing environment through the Gandhi-like experience these bears endure.”
The live HD video streams will start Nov. 2 with shots from multiple locations and multiple cameras on Tundra Buggies roving the subarctic tundra. People can watch from Internet-connected phones, TVs, tablets or computers during daylight hours at www.explore.org/polarbears and see the day’s highlights replayed at night. Last year, more than a million hours of the polar bear migration were streamed over three weeks. The polar bear migration is the latest addition to explore.org’s Pearls of the Planet collection, which aims to inspire lifelong learning and help people fall in love with the world again. Explore.org has streamed more than five million hours of Pearls of the Planet footage in the past year. As part of this year’s broadcast, explore.org is asking people to sign the Petition for Polar Bears urging world leaders to take meaningful action at climate changes talks in Lima, Peru this year and Paris, France next year. People and organizations interested in the plight of the polar bears are also being asked to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas footprint and to inspire others to do the same by creating videos describing their energy-saving pledges and sharing them with the hashtag #SaveOurSeaIce. Polar Bear International’s YouTube page will broadcast the videos.
