Hudson Bay

Imagine a splash of water so big it could hold thousands of islands. In the winter, my surface cracks and groans as a thick blanket of ice forms. Polar bears wander my icy shores, and smiling white beluga whales swim in my chilly depths. I am a giant watery hug at the top of a big country called Canada. My waters are cold, but my heart is full of stories and life. I am the mighty Hudson Bay.

Long, long ago, I wasn't here at all. Giant sheets of ice, like mountains of frozen water, covered the land where I now rest. Then, about 8,000 years ago, the world warmed up. The massive glaciers slowly melted, and the great ocean rushed in to fill the giant bowl they had carved into the earth. That’s how I was born. The very first people, the ancestors of the Cree and Inuit, made their homes along my shores. They were my first friends, fishing in my waters and traveling by canoe for thousands of years.

For a very long time, it was just me and my friends. Then, one day in the year 1610, a big wooden ship with tall sails floated into my waters. It was called the Discovery, and its captain was a brave explorer from England named Henry Hudson. He was looking for a secret path, a shortcut through the water to the faraway lands of Asia. He called this imaginary route the Northwest Passage. He hoped I was the secret entrance. But my winters are very long and cold. Before he could find his path, my waters froze solid, trapping his ship in the ice for the whole winter of 1610 to 1611. His crew grew tired and scared. When the ice finally melted in the spring of 1611, his crew decided to sail home. They left Henry Hudson behind, but his name stayed with me forever, putting me on maps for the whole world to see.

After Henry Hudson, many more ships came to visit me. They weren't looking for a secret path anymore. They were looking for soft, warm beaver furs, which were very popular in Europe. On May 2nd, 1670, a famous company was started called the Hudson's Bay Company. They built small forts, called trading posts, all along my edges. Indigenous peoples, who knew the land and its animals so well, would bring beaver furs to the posts. In return, they received blankets, tools, and other goods from Europe. For hundreds of years, I was like a busy highway for ships, carrying furs one way and supplies the other.

My busy trading days are mostly over, but I am more important than ever. Today, I am a precious home for some of the world's most amazing animals. Huge polar bears wait on my shores for the ice to form so they can hunt for seals. Pods of beluga whales, sometimes called 'sea canaries,' swim and sing in my waters every summer. A special town on my coast, called Churchill, is even known as the 'Polar Bear Capital of the World.' People travel from all over just to see the incredible wildlife I protect. I am a wild heart that reminds everyone of the beautiful, natural world we all share and must take care of.