My Polar Bear, Nanuk

 

My Polar Bear Experience

Polar bears gave me my own journey to make.

It all started with a polar bear called Nanuk, and a question from my husband.  

“What do you want for your birthday?”

“I want a polar bear,” I said.   He looked a bit surprised.  I felt I should clarify my birthday request.

“I’d love it if you would adopt a polar bear for me,” I told him. 

And so he did, and Nanuk entered my life and my heart.  She took me on a journey I’d never expected.

She was 10 at the time of my adoption.  Her name means polar bear in Inuit.  She had a cub and she lived in the Canadian Arctic, close to Hudson Bay.   She was part of a group of polar bears who were monitored by a team of experienced, dedicated scientists.  She was beautiful! 

I was thrilled with this gift – I had my own polar bear!   I really felt she was mine.  I started to read about Nanuk and to find out about her life and the conditions she faced every day.  And I was astonished at the impact Nanuk and her cub had on me.

I felt a warm glow in my heart every time I thought of Nanuk, strolling across the Arctic, her cub behind her, following Mum, a vast expanse of snow and ice under their huge paws.

But I worried about her as well.  Was she all right?  How was her cub doing?  Could they find things to eat?  What if she ran out of energy to find the food she needed?  What would happen to her cub?  How far did she have to swim to find food?  Would Nanuk and her cub make it to the next piece of ice?  Would they drown?  And you know how easy it is to start thinking about this like this, and get worked up and in a state about it. I decided to turn this into something more positive.

I realised I wanted to protect her as much as I could.  I wanted to look after her.  I wanted to do everything I could to keep this polar bear and her cub safe.

Nanuk lived in the wilds of the Canadian Arctic.  I live in Sussex in the south east of England.   Could I do anything from Sussex, more given to lovely warm, sunny days in summer and wet, damp, cold and windy ones in winter?  Nanuk had to survive in freezing temperatures and bring up her cub in such a way that he could thrive.

But what could I do? 

How could I care for my polar bear?

 I took action and began to find out how I could help Nanuk and her cub.   And what I found really made me re-think my lifestyle and my needs and wants from life.

The adoption had not just given me Nanuk to adopt.  It had given me a way to connect with Nanuk and her cub in my heart and my head. It had created in me a desire to make things easier for them.  The more I found out about polar bears and how to help them, the more I realised that I had a journey of my own to make, to help them.

I wanted to connect more with polar bears.

I wanted to help polar bears.

I wanted answers and ways forward as to how I could help. 

Creating this website – and a page to show others how to help polar bears - was my starting point.  I really hope it helps you help polar bears!

 

My polar bear adoption made me wonder how far Nanuk had to swim to find food
so I started to find out what I could about polar bears. 

 

I thought I'd share with you just some of the things we've done to try to be a part of the solution to help polar bears.

 

• We got into the habit of checking how much electricity we’d used every week and then ask ourselves what we could do to reduce it (and our bill!)

• We’ve gone solar for hot water – the pitch of our roof didn’t allow us to do anymore.  

• We use solar power (a jackery) for charging mobile phones. 

• We don’t heat the house, just the room we are in, and extra jumpers keep us snug. 

• We ask ourselves if a journey is really necessary before we take it. 

• Everything gets switched off at the wall when we are not using it.  We never leave it on stand-by.

• The washing goes on the line outside to dry, although this is harder to do in winter.

• I ask myself this question: why should I give my hard earned cash to oil and gas companies when I can take a few steps and keep it for myself?  Visualising this has been very effective.   I imagine me holding on to my cash with glares from the oil and gas industry because they can't get it - it has really helped increase my determination to cut back and actually take action to do so. Equally, I visualise a polar bear, exhausted from swimming with no land in sight and no food insight or the reserves of energy to find it. That usually spurs me into action pretty quickly.

• I've written this page to raise awareness! Please note I am not a conservationist - I am just someone who wants to help raise awareness and do something to help. I hope this page helps you help polar bears.

 

 
Make a connection of your own with polar bears
and create your own journey to help them.