TORONTO -- A TikTok user from Vancouver has used the platform to document a recent trip to northern Manitoba to see polar bears.
Michael Downie and his father visited Churchill, Man., back in October to view the annual polar bear migration through the northern town, where hundreds of polar bears make their way to the coast of the Hudson Bay and wait for the ice to form.
鈥淚t was incredible, these animals are huge and they鈥檙e calm,鈥� Downie told CTV News Channel. 鈥淭his time of year they鈥檙e congregating in Churchill because that鈥檚 where the ice freezes first. They鈥檝e been on land and haven鈥檛 eaten in months.鈥�
Downie recently posted eight TikTok videos of his trip to Churchill, including videos of the travel needed to get there, to footage of three polar bears approaching his 鈥減olar rover,鈥� an off-road vehicle designed to traverse the tundra.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a mix of curiousness and hunger and maybe they鈥檙e pleasant Canadians as well,鈥� he said of the bears approaching the rover.
The eight clips have each received at least 34,000 views, with one reaching more than 587,000 views.
鈥淧eople are interested in northern Canada, in polar bears and a friendly father-son trip,鈥� Downie said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to be TikTok dances, it can be just good fun.鈥�
Downie has made a career of his travel videos, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced him to look for interesting travel destinations domestically.
鈥淭ravel鈥檚 been cancelled internationally, so I looked to British Columbia first where I could explore here and then Canada on a large scale,鈥� he said. 鈥淐hurchill was open for travel back in October, so I decided it was my chance to make that trip that I鈥檝e always wanted to do.鈥�
With tightened travel restrictions, Downie is now focused on keeping his videos to interesting adventures in the Vancouver-area and in the lower mainland.
