See The Polar Bears, Belugas And Borealis Of Netflix’s “Predators” For Yourself

Netflix has a new documentary series—“Predators”—with incredible cinematography of some of the world’s apex carnivores, including the polar bears of Churchill in Manitoba, Canada. Churchill is known as the polar bear capital of the world (as well as the beluga whale capital) and it’s easy to see both animals in the wild on a trip to this subarctic Canadian town.

Netflix’s Churchill “Predators”: Polar bears plus belugas and borealis

Released in September 2023 in the U.S., “Predators” is a documentary series narrated by Tom Hardy; it’s a co-production by Netflix and the U.K.’s Sky Nature (and was released in the U.K. in December 2022). Each of the first season’s five episodes focuses on one predator species—the lions, cheetahs and wild dogs of central Africa, the pumas of Chile’s Patagonia, and the polar bears of Canada’s subarctic. Accompanying the extraordinary footage, Hardy explains the challenges of being at the top of the food chain, particularly as climate change makes these animals’ habitats harder to survive in.

Episode four of “Predators” is about the polar bears that spend their winters on the sea ice of Hudson Bay and their summers on its shores, often around the town of Churchill, Manitoba. There are between 600 and 700 bears in the Western Hudson Bay population and, so far, 2023 is shaping up to be a record year for polar bears. Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development’s most recent report (September 11, 2023) states that conservation officers filed 116 polar bear occurrences so far this year: meaning bears got too close to people or the town itself 116 times and, sometimes, had to be warned away with a flare gun or temporarily isolated in the Polar Bear Holding Facility.

High season for Churchill’s polar bears is October and November. As winter approaches, more and more bears congregate on the shores of Hudson Bay as they wait for the sea ice to form so they can head out to hunt for their main food source, seals.

The polar bear is the largest carnivore on land: adult males weigh between 775 and 1,300 pounds and, when up on their hind legs, can stand 10 feet tall. As soon as the sea ice is thick enough to bear the bears’ weight, all but the pregnant mothers-to-be leave land far behind.

Polar Bears International, the nonprofit dedicated to conserving wild polar bears and their sea ice habitat, describes how pregnant polar bears dig snow caves on shore and give birth, often to twins, in December. The “Predators” polar bear episode begins with one brand-new family poking their heads out from inside their snow den until they fully emerge in the spring when the cubs begin outdoor life and their intensive survival training.

Also featured in the episode are the beluga whales that visit Churchill every summer—”Predators” even has rare footage of some enterprising bears that have learned to hunt the cetaceans to supplement their preferred winter diet of seals.

Not only is Churchill one of the very few places in the world where you can see both polar bears and beluga whales, the documentary shows beautiful aurora borealis dancing in Churchill’s night sky. The northern lights appear 300 nights of the year in Churchill, thanks to the town’s location in the middle of the auroral oval band (yes, they’re visible even in the summer when there’s only a few hours of darkness).

In Churchill, a polar bear might sniff your feet (or your phone)

So, how do you safely see a 10-foot-tall apex predator? From inside a Tundra Buggy.

Frontiers North Adventures is a Certified B Corporation that operates polar bear tours in Churchill on their Tundra Buggies—low-impact, all-terrain vehicles designed to traverse the tundra’s streams and snow drifts and keep wildlife watchers safe from polar bears. The height of a Tundra Buggy is about 14 feet with the tops of its tires at almost six feet. Passengers sit elevated inside above the tundra and can view and take photos of polar bears and other wildlife from the windows.

Sometimes the polar bears are best photographed with a zoom lens and sometimes the giant white predators come right up to investigate the Tundra Buggy—an encounter Frontiers North Adventures dubs “buggy love.”

Passengers also have the option of standing outside on the Tundra Buggy’s balcony. Occasionally a curious bear walks right underneath and may even stand on its hind legs to sniff the shoes of the astonished humans above. Would you want just the metal grate of the floor separating your feet (or your phone) from a polar bear’s inquisitive nose? While it won’t make for the most photogenic of shots, it’s a thrill you’ll never forget and one people might not believe without photographic proof.

Frontiers North Adventures is currently testing two electric versions of their Tundra Buggies, transformed from their original diesel-power. The battery-powered EVs not only reduce greenhouse gases but operate almost silently in the wilderness. Frontiers North Adventures partners with Polar Bears International and also supplies them with a research vehicle, named Tundra Buggy One. Amongst all the research equipment onboard is a Polar Bear Cam—watch its live video, plus off-season highlights, on Explore.org’s website for a taste of what to expect when you go to Churchill.

Summertime in Churchill: See beluga whales and polar bears too

A visit to Churchill in the summer brings the high likelihood of seeing both polar bears and beluga whales (as well as northern lights, even with the late sunset during Churchill’s summers; though aurora seekers might prefer Frontiers North Adventures’ Northern Lights and Winter Nights trip in February and March when the lights often come out for a dinnertime show above the Tundra Buggy-turned restaurant on the frozen Churchill River). You will, however, need to rely on “Predators” to watch the phenomenon of polar bears hunting for beluga whales. Do keep scanning the landscape for any fuzzy white rocks though—they’re often napping polar bears conserving their energy until seals are on the menu again.

Much more active than the polar bears are the thousands of beluga whales that come to have their babies in the (comparatively) warm waters of the Churchill River every summer. Several of Frontiers North Adventures’ summer tours include time on the water to see—and hear—the curious white whales known as the canaries of the sea.

You could, for example, ride in a slow-moving Zodiac or paddle a kayak or standup paddleboard. There’s a good chance the belugas will swim right up and check you out, floating beside or diving under your boat and perhaps even raising their large expressive faces to take a look at you. Guides will often drop an underwater microphone below the surface so you can hear the loud squeaks and songs of the whales as they talk to each other. Belugas are technically predators too; they use echolocation and their sharp eyes to hunt for fish as well as to forage for octopus, crab and snails on the sea floor. Perhaps Netflix will feature the friendly-looking whales with their own episode on the next season of “Predators.”

Until then—and until you get to Churchill yourself—watch all the white whales you want via the Beluga Boat Cam. It’s operated by Frontiers North Adventures, Polar Bears International and Explore.org while the whales are in Churchill, from about mid-July to early September. Off-season, the highlight reel will leave you with a smile bigger than a beluga’s.