Wapusk park is 11,475 square kilometres in size and is located south and east of Churchill, Manitoba. Wapusk National Park has no roads going through it or visitor facilities as it was created to preserve its fragile tundra environment.
Within the park’s vastness, you can find 44 varieties of mammals, over 250 types of birds, as well as about 1,200 polar bears and 10,00 Beluga Whales.
The polar bears live on the Hudson Bay’s glaciers from late fall until late July, when the ice finally melts. While living on the ice, the polar bears hunt ring seal, which is their major source of sustenance throughout the season.
Once the ice breaks apart in July, the polar bears are forced onto the shore near the Wapusk coastline. The bears will remain on land for about four months as they wait for the Hudson Bay to freeze back over.
Pregnant female polar bears remain on land throughout the year to give birth to and protect their cubs. Wapusk National Park is home to one of the world’s largest known polar bear maternity denning areas.
On average, a Wapusk female polar bear will give birth every two to three years.
Rarely will male and female polar bears be found together on land, as the males will attack any unprotected cubs, thus, freeing up the female polar bear for mating.
There are about 10,000 Beluga whales living in the Hudson Bay, but only 3,500 of them are considered to be part of the Churchill population.
The whales move into the river’s estuaries (where fresh water mixes with the salty ocean water) soon after the ice breaks, in search of warmer water for their newborns.
The Beluga whales grow to three or four feet in length and weigh in, on average, around 400kg, which is considerably smaller than their more northerly water-inhabiting counterparts.
The Belugas feed on Artic char, shrimp, capelin and crab.
These two indigenous mammals share the Wapusk National Park with a variety of other life forms, most notably, Aboriginal people, in particular the Cree, Dene and Inuit who have lived here for over 3,000 years.
In the 17th century, Metis and European traders arrived at Wapusk with a Danish expedition commanded by Captain Jack Munk to be the first known group to camp along Churchill. The group arrived, unprepared, in the winter of 1619. All but four of their men died.
The fur trade brought more people to the area, in particular English and French explorers. Battles for the territory along the coast of Hudson Bay between the trades and Aboriginals ensued. The Treaty of Utrecht gave the English sovereignty on Hudson Bay, but in order to establish a permanent settlement, negotiations with a rival First Nations tribe had to be completed.
If travelling diagonally through Wapusk National Park from the northeast to its southwest corner, you would pass through three different habitats – marine coastal, tundra and taiga. You will also notice that half of the land’s surface is underwater – lakes, rivers, streams, bogs and ferns.