LANCASTER BAY SEPARATES BAFFIN ISLAND from Devon Island. Massive volumes of water from the Atlantic to the east and Pacific to the west, and from the archipelago of islands to the north all mix here, combining to make a rich source of nutrients and food for an abundance of Arctic wildlife. It’s a wild place and as far north as we’ll go. 75° N or less than 1000 miles from the pole. Strong currents combined with 35 mph winds yesterday to thwart our attempt to reach a walrus pullout, our only chance to see these giants. Another disappointment.
Erin on guard
We did have a chance to stretch our legs around the abandoned Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost at Dundas Harbour, under guard, of course, from the possibility of a polar bear encounter. But all we saw were some arctic poppies and ferns.
RCMP outpost
And today we took a short ride to Beechey Island to the four graves of sailors from the ill-fated HMS Erebus. The Erebus and its companion, HMS Terror, were part of Sir John Franklin’s Northwest Passage Expedition in 1845. They never returned and it wasn’t until two years ago that the Erebus was discovered in Nunavut’s Queen Maud Gulf. Co-incidentally, our ship, Akademik Sergey Vavilov, was part of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society’s Victoria Strait Expedition.
Arctic poppies
