Stranded Whale Cove woman encounters polar bears twice on trek back to town

A woman from Whale Cove, Nunavut, is counting her lucky stars after surviving not one but two separate polar bear encounters on the same night.

Eva Angoo went out camping on her own at around 11:30 p.m., something she does regularly. About halfway to her destination she took a smoke break, turning off her Bravo.

After her break, she says, she started the snowmobile but it wouldn't move and she couldn't figure out what the mechanical problem was. She could see the lights of her community and the runway — about 2.5 kilometres away — but knew no one would likely be travelling at such a late hour.

She had no rifle or any knives for personal protection so she started walking back to town, carrying her iPad.

On the trail back to Whale Cove she had to cross the sea ice to get to land. Along the way she found huge tracks and recognized them to be fresh. She looked around and there in the nearby hillside she saw a polar bear laying on its belly.

The bear found her scent and raised its head. It stood up, and by its stance she could tell it was interested in what it was smelling.

'I am not ready to die like this'

Angoo says she began praying to God, saying 'I am not ready to die like this,' and as she was walking, she tripped in deep snow.

As she was trying to free herself, she cramped up and was now in great pain.

"I could see the bear stood right up on its hind legs. I could hear it breathing in my scent… I laid there stuck in deep snow," she said in Inuktitut.

She says she started to pray and a bright light came over her and the bear and she felt a gust of wind. She says it was as though the bear became blind and no longer could see her.

When she finally freed herself, the bear seemed to be uninterested and went back to its area.

She continued her walk back to town, spending some time on land before she crossed onto ice again and had to cross large ice fractures.

2 cubs and a mother bear

Not halfway through the ice pan, she looked right over her shoulder and saw two small polar bear cubs, and about 50 feet away was their mother. She says the adult bear stood on its hind legs to sniff her scent. Angoo estimates it was 10 feet tall.

Luckily, that bear was not threatening.

She continued her trek toward the airport and as she was approaching the runway she stumbled upon a sandhill crane that took off and startled her.

Finally she hit the gravel pad and arrived at the airport building. She said she was so exhausted at this point she was almost crawling when she entered the terminal building to use the phone at 2:40 a.m.

She said she called home and her youngest daughter answered. She asked "where are you?" and Angoo responded "I'm at the airport."

Angoo said she has a heart murmur which contributed to her exhaustion from the ordeal. She was treated at the local health centre.