Town surrounds the bay here like a Roman amphitheatre. By the time I was ready to run my dogs for the first time it felt more like a gladiator’s pit. Watching a new comer with dogs is entertainment value here. Guaranteed. Well usually.

I had absolutely no idea how my dogs would behave for the first run with me. I admit I was absolutely petrified of that audience before going out. 

I imagined sofas being pulled up to windows, snack bowls being filled and people baying for the slaying to commence. I took just six dogs out for my first run of the season.  There was predictable initial dog violence but overall that run went well and was the basis of the coming winter. I was really pleased.

We were on our way.

Later in the month I had a call on my mobile phone. So what? I was out running my dogs on the ocean through tall pack ice and the friend could see a polar bear near me. I was oblivious and wondered how many times in my life that had happened.

It doesn’t happen now but years ago bear cubs were taken from their mothers, chained, crated and shipped off to European zoos from here. I’ve seen the pictures, and private film footage.

One day walking out to my first seal net I used footings I’d left the day before. I noticed overnight a polar bear had used the same trail to reach the edge of houses. Despite the bear I was soon catching seals under the sea ice.

A snowmobile was lost and the men rescued after going through ice this month.  Both men were frostbitten. Years ago a man went through ice here on another snowmobile. He went right under the ice. His hands were horrifically frostbitten. He also lost all his front teeth because he’d bitten so hard on the only thing he could bite hold of, his still floating machine. Suddenly the machine upended and wrenched out his teeth.
 
By the end of November we had no daylight and the sun wouldn’t rise for 60 polar winter days.