Blog Update August 11

Today, August 11th, we kicked the day off with a large hearty breakfast and soon after we started prepping for the field. Later that morning we departed from Nestor One’s southern gate and departed for a wet fen a couple of kilometers away us. At our arrival we set up a transect and began collecting data. Once done, we ate lunch on site and then we split up into two groups. The first group would head back to camp and started working on extracting DNA from our soil samples. The second group would hike further south to collect data and samples from a couple of fox dens. I was one of the lucky individuals who chose to continue the day out in the tundra.

On our way there, we walked along a beach ridge that overlooked the expanse of the land. We could see Nestor One in the distance, it looked so close, but the truth was it was an hour and a half walk away. Soon, we found ourselves stooped on a little mound on the beach ridge. We watched the caribou as they pounced through the muddy fen below us; we felt the cooling breeze as it ran through us, and we felt the soft ground covered in herbs and shrubs below us. Suddenly, Cate Cochran who also came to the fox den pointed in the distance and asked “is that a polar bear?”. I quickly turned on my camera and zoomed in on the lake in the distance. I looked into the little scope and I spotted three little dots resting on the water. I took a picture and zoomed in further while viewing because it was still unclear whether it was a bear or not. I showed the others and they were convinced the dots were. rocks. I looked away from my camera and noticed that these rocks began to swim. My heart began racing, and once again I zoomed in as far as possible. I focused the lenses, adjusted the lighting, and clicked. I viewed the picture and it was clear as day that those were not rocks; it was a mom and two cubs going for a swim. It was beautiful.

Written Pablo Q