Woodland Caribou!!

So as many of you from Northwestern Ontario might have noticed we had a bit of a chilly winter around here this year.  As a result, a few interesting things occurred.  

First and foremost, Lake Superior froze over.  Frankly, it went a bit above and beyond frozen, with one of the longest consistent full ice cover as far as anyone can remember.  Thunder Bay Harbour had its latest opening on record, bringing in the first ship 10 full days later than the previous record.  As well, a solid, and consistent ice bridge developed between the Slate Islands and the North Shore of Superior, for well over five weeks.  The picture above is from a Satellite image taken by the Modis project on March 2, 2014.

So, heres a google earth pic of the Slate Islands.  Jackfish Bay is the two pronged bay on the mainland immediately North of the Slates.  For those who are unaware, the Slates are an incredible place;  formed by a meteorite impact that was over 30km wide!  I believe the islands are the "splash back" that occurred when the big rock hit the earth 330 million years ago.  (Well, I've read anywhere between 13 and 900 million years ago).  

Given their isolation from the mainland, the islands have harboured a remnant heard of Woodland Caribou, of at present about 100 or so animals.  The animals live on the islands without predators, so they have thrived.  On the mainland, they have been extirpated since the 1950's.  At certain times of the year, on the Slate Islands, you are virtually guaranteed to see caribou if you visit the inner harbour of the Slates.  In fact, some are a bit too friendly.  

Introducing Clarence the campsite caribou!  These pictures were taken with a regular, not zoom lens.  I had to shoo Clarence away from supper preparations as he was trying to eat our carrots.  Its really exciting seeing the animals, but I also get a bit of a sad feeling much like when visiting zoos.

But back to this winter.  ... as I said, the ice cover became well established and lasted for an extended period, even into April.  On the April 12/13 weekend I headed out to the cabin, as I heard that there were signs of caribou crossing over to the mainland.  Skiing in on the ice was scary but truthfully it was about 3-4 feet thick.  

Cabin, lake ice, and the Slate Islands about 12km offshore. 

On the first night, at about 11pm, I heard some rustling outside the cabin, being in bed I decided it was too late to look outside so I waited until the morning to go searching for caribou.  Luckily I found their tracks right outside the door!  Went for a ski about 2-3km North of the cabin, and found four young caribou resting on the ice.

It was sunny and I wasn't sure they were actually animals, but thankfully I had Samantha's camera with a great zoom lens.  I didn't see them in this picture until after I was back in the cabin.  Shortly after this shot they jumped up and ran along the lake into the Moberley Bay area.

So, I did hear later, that 6 wolves crossed over from the mainland to the Slate Islands, (one young wolf was found dead) and subsequently a number of caribou have moved back to the mainland as well.  Personally I'm really happy to see caribou back on mainland, and I hope that the wolves and caribou will develop a more natural ecosystem on the islands.  I'm sure researchers will be looking at this event for years to come.  In fact, research helicopters flew over the islands last weekend for the first survey of the new predator/prey interactions on the islands. 

-Darrell-