Arviat (Aug 25/03) - Coming face to face with a polar bear was not on the itinerary.

After setting up camp at the mouth of the south fork of the McConnell River on Aug. 15, eight female canoeists from Wisconsin huddled together in a tent, making every effort to avoid any contact with a seven-foot, young male polar bear.

"It was the first one we have dealt with all year," said Constable Sean O'Brien, Arviat RCMP.

"It wasn't aggressive towards the girls.

"He just basically circled the tent and made them very uneasy."

The women called the Arviat RCMP for help via a satellite phone, while the lurking bruin tore down a tent and broke into the food supply. "They first said they were about five miles away," said O'Brien, who alongside wildlife officer Joe Saviqataaq, responded to the call on ATV's.

After searching for approximately seven miles, O'Brien and Saviqataaq called the women again, but without a global positioning satellite, the women were not able to determine their exact location.

"We made very good use of satellite phones and used flashing headlights on the ATV's," said O'Brien, adding Saviqataaq was the more knowledgable one when navigating the difficult geography of the land. When O'Brien and Saviqataaq had searched for 11 miles, the women fired a flare that could be seen by the men 25 kilometres away.

"When we found them, the girls were all huddled together." said O'Brien. "They had good scare."

Saviqataaq managed to chase the bear away with rubber bullets and thunderflashes.

"The bear sniffed it, it exploded, and off he went," said O'Brien. There was no harm done to the bear.

The canoeists, from a YMCA affiliated camp, had canoed from Wollaston Lake, Sask., determined to reach Arviat, Nunavut, in 49 days. Following the incident, they continued their journey to Arviat, but found headwinds and tidal waters on Hudson Bay too difficult to navigate.

They were brought to Arviat on ATV's by Arviat Search and Rescue and have returned to their homes in Wisconsin.