..maritimus. Polar bears to you and I.

The other day I had some thoughts about destinations for a paddle trip, Northern Canada came to mind, with it’s endless coastline, vast wilderness and natural beauty offering limitless scope for adventure. Being a top of the food chain tenderfoot from a country where our most dangerous predators are human beings (Homo sapiens, to continue the classification theme), my thoughts wandered towards polar bears (something I hope I never physically do). I begin to imagine scenarios….please know, I understand that I’ll probably never see a polar bear and they’re not all in a snowcave somewhere planning my demise, but still….

I’m on land, cooking a nice ragu sauce and readying to wash it down with nice glass of red (I really rough it), I see a bear quite close to me so I urgently pack up and paddle off to pastures safer – or do I? After imagining this scene I checked out some polar bear facts online.

Polar bears can or will ;

• swim at speeds up to 5.5 knots ……………………………………………..hmmm!
• swim for 60 miles, even more if necessary…………………………………interesting!
• run at speeds of 25mph over short distances………………………………jeez!
• actively stalk people as prey (guess we’re just food like anything else)…..WTF!

So, if a polar bear likes my scent and I am guessing I’d be exuding a lovely fishy aroma judging by the smell of most paddle kit, then it will come looking for me. I can’t out run it and of greater surprise and concern to myself, I probably won’t be able to beat it on the water if it chases me there. I’m now wondering if anybody’s ever been chased in their kayak by a polar bear?

These are just musings coming forward during a training session, still, perhaps Portugal has some nice coastline?

‘mmmm, neoprene’