There are 3 distinct tourist seasons in Churchill - polar bear season (fall), northern lights season (winter) and beluga whale season (summer). The town pretty much shuts down in between - it’s down to 1 restaurant and the train south was full of seasonal workers heading home for holidays and then back at it for aurora season.
The community center in Churchill houses the hospital, library, sports facilities, swimming pool, the high school and some other town offices. The regional volleyball tournament was held there - on the train ride north we picked up players and coaches at both Thompson and Gillam and they all bunked in at the center for the weekend tournament.
Just recently Polar Bears International opened their new office on the main drag in Churchill. PBI is a non-profit whose mission is to conserve polar bears and the sea ice they depend on. They hosted a talk by U. of T. PhD student Stephanie Penk who is using mathematical methods to predict polar bear survival and reproduction based on their food intake (ie. access to seals). The bears hunt the seals on the ice which is a reason the PBI tracks the number of days the bears have been off ice each year - when on land they roam around trying to eat berries and tourists.
Some shots about town:
Return for beluga season.