Welcome back to Scary Bear Attacks!
Today’s episode takes us to Arviat, Nunavut Island, to a place called Sentry Island in
Hudson Bay in northeast Canada.
This wind swept land of rock and ice is a nearly inhospitable place but indigenous people
have scraped out a living here for untold eons.
When the ice melts in the summer, the natives can fish, but in the brutal winters, ice covers
the water and land, and the humans frequently come face to face with the worlds largest
bear species in competition for a common food source, seals.
The polar bear is renowned as being one of the very few bear species who stalks human
beings and considers them as a part of the ecosystem.
There are no trees to climb here.
The only avenues for escape are the open seas or to run across the open ground.
The polar bear can run 35 miles per hour and swim for days on end, so neither of those
options is viable.
That leaves only yourself as a means of self defense, escape or protection.
Aaron Gibbons was a 31 year old father of 1 son and 3 daughters and a member of the
Inuit community.
He was known for being a great hunter and providing meat for needy members of the community
as well as being a dedicated family man.
His friends would describe him as having never lost his temper which is quite a feat with
4 young children.
On July 3rd, 2018 Aaron loaded up his 4 children and his .22 LR firearm into his boat.
The group planned to go to Sentry Island to harvest bird eggs and have a fun family day.
They departed Arviat, their 2500 person community, and motored the 10 miles to the island.
Aaron’s children, who are all elementary school age, piled off the boat and immediately
started playing and running around.
They were carefree with no stress in their lives, as the warmth of the summer energized
them as it does to young people.
Their dad secured the boat on the rocky shore and began making his way toward the kids.
Aaron instructed the kids on what to look for when gathering the eggs and how to avoid
any problems with defensive bird parents and turned the vivacious kids loose!
They ran around finding and seeking their seasonal delicacy as if Mother Nature sponsored
an Easter Egg hunt a few months too late.
As the children amassed a growing collection of bird eggs, Aaron’s mind slipped into
a bit of a mental recess, and reflection for a moment.
He is hastily snapped out of it when he sees a huge white mass stealthily moving in the
direction of his kids.
At this time of year, most polar bears are essentially doing what their brown bear cousins
do in the winter, a sort of summer hibernation.
They don’t find a den or bury themselves but they do lay around and wait for cooler
temperatures to prevail while living off of the body fat they have amassed over the winter
hunting period.
The only polar bears that do not do this are the desperate, starving ones.
As the large white mass slowly morphs into what Aaron recognizes as a polar bear, Aaron
knows he will have to intervene.
This bear is not playing.
It is not just curious.
It is sneaking up on his daughter while she plays and gathers eggs.
Aaron heeds the demeanor of the polar bear.
Its head is down and ears are back.
It is moving slowly and watching the children as they dart from nest to nest.
It carefully examines its most hidden approach avenues and slowly closes the distance between
the children and himself.
Aaron knows this is a dire situation and immediately puts a plan of action into place.
He orders his kids to run to the boat immediately as he runs toward them and gathers rocks.
His 22 long rifle firearm is in his boat and that is in the other direction so Aaron utilizes
the weapons he has on hand, baseball sized stones.
As the kids run toward the safety of the boat, the polar bear starts to quickly close the
distance between them.
Aaron intercepts their path and lobs the rocks at the bear and yells in an attempt to scare
it off.
The rocks pelt the side of the bear which stops and looks it all over for a few seconds.
The bear is in bad shape and hungry, it cannot be frightened away from a needed opportunity
to feed and starts to focus on Aaron.
Aaron is a very experienced hunter and knows that this is not a fake or a bluff.
This bear is coming to kill and eat him.
When Aaron sees that the bear will not be run off, he instructs his eldest daughter
to call for help on the radio.
She immediately does exactly as her daddy instructs her to do.
Then, she watches, along with her brothers and sisters.
As the polar bear begins to move toward Aaron, the man thinks twice about the standoff and
breaks form.
He starts to run for the boat.
If he can get it launched quickly and motor out as fast as he can, he can keep his kids
and himself safe.
But, events do not transpire that way.
The polar bear runs Aaron down in just a few yards and tackles him to the ground, as he
runs toward his children.
The kids can do nothing but look on as their daddy is mauled before their eyes.
The polar bear grabs Aaron around the neck and throws him back and forth and up and down.
Aarons body quickly goes limp as the bear continues to throw him back and forth and
beat his body on the rocks.
The brave little girl's radio signal is successful.
Authorities respond and dispatch the aggressive and underweight young male polar bear.
His community stood on the beach as Aarrons body was brought back to town.
The attack and the lead up to it, was obviously a predatory situation, but why?
An elder at Arviat, Bobby Suluk was reported as saying that when he moved there 60 years
ago they would sleep out under the stars in a tent and never even consider a polar bear
attack.
Today inuit and visitors alike must fear polar bear attacks no matter their activity.
Some community members blame ecotourism as excursions allow tourists to walk alongside
the polar bears, but strictly forbid feeding them.
In the time frame between 1870 and 2014 there were a mere 20 human fatalities.
If you have seen our Scary Animal Attacks channel and watched our episode on Leopard
Seals then you will know that the frequency of contact with people has something to do
with that, but there is more to it.
Last year, in Arviat, there were over 300 polar bear sightings.
The bears are possibly losing their fear of people.
The situation is exacerbated when the government of Canada limits the quota that indingeous
people like the Inuit can harvest.
The limit currently is only 8 bears and the Inuit hunters meet it in only 3 days, which
tells you that they are finding plenty of bears in their area.
Otherwise, community members are allowed to shoot a polar bear when it threatens the lives
of humans, which sounds like a bad position to be put in.
Scientists say that Polar Bear populations have decreased 20% in recent years despite
an increase in sightings.
They cite that the bears now have less ice to hunt on due to climate change and this
is creating a change in their behavior.
The Canadian government estimates that there are 14,000 polar bears in Nunavut territory.
Aaron was one of two men killed in 2018 in Nunavut.
Inuit leaders have petitioned the Canadian government to allow them to harvest more polar
bears to ensure community safety.