Every autumn, polar bears of western Hudson Bay gather along the coast of northern Manitoba, resting on rocky shores and among willows while they wait for the bay to freeze, then walking out onto the ice for winter. One of them is an old friend. Scarbrow, a big male now thought to be about twenty two years old, is back on the coast near Dymond Lake and Seal River, his eighteenth autumn there in nineteen years, according to Churchill Wild, whose lodges sit on that shore. He was first spotted as a curious three year old, and guides came to know him by a scar above his right eye, which is how he got his name. Read the full story: Polar Bear Week 2026, by George Williams, Churchill Wild.

Over the years Scarbrow has grown from a young bear finding his feet into what the people who watch for him call a semi resident. Nolan Booth, who runs the lodges' operations, once wrote that Scarbrow knows the routine, likes it there and knows not to come too close. He has been seen patrolling the fence line in the cold, near enough for guests to watch his breath turn to mist, and taking a polite interest in the younger bears passing through. He knows there is nothing to eat at the lodge, and still he comes, year after year, to the same willows and the same rocks, as if checking in on old neighbours. Somewhere out on that shore this week, he is resting, watching the water, and waiting for the ice that will carry him out onto the bay again.

An Earth to Sea News story. Scarbrow's return, age and history from Churchill Wild (George Williams, 1 November 2026, and earlier posts). Autumn on the coast from Polar Bears International. Photograph: as credited in caption.