Polar bears and Polar plunge; Griffin Inlet, Arctic Canada
Inuktitut word of the day:
Immiqqutuillaq— Arctic tern
Immiqqutuillaq— Arctic tern
"I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant
gypsy life. To the gull's way and the whale's way,
where the wind's like a whetted knife. And all I ask
is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover. And a
quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long
trek's over." —John Masefield, Sea Fever
Today, we head south retracing the steps of the ill fated Franklin expedition, which is a deviation from the original plan. At the west end of Lancaster Sound and stretching westward is an area of impenetrable ice that our ice shover ship cannot get through. We are still going through the northwest passage, just not the way they had originally planned ( a few years ago, they had to turn back because all of the possible ways of getting through were impassable).
Today we spot more bears (a solo bear and then a mother and two second year cubs) and get close enough in zodiacs to grab some pretty good photos - my best bear photos will be tomorrow - stay tuned. It is also polar plunge day - I wimp out but this allows me to be Brad's official photographer. The actual official photographer got some great photos of folks doing the polar plunge. Brad reported that it was a bit colder than the Antarctic plunge he did back in February. One of the staff (John Houston - part Inuit, an artist and filmmaker), stayed in the Arctic water (around 35 degrees F) for about 20 minutes...talk about ice water for blood!
Today, we head south retracing the steps of the ill fated Franklin expedition, which is a deviation from the original plan. At the west end of Lancaster Sound and stretching westward is an area of impenetrable ice that our ice shover ship cannot get through. We are still going through the northwest passage, just not the way they had originally planned ( a few years ago, they had to turn back because all of the possible ways of getting through were impassable).
Today we spot more bears (a solo bear and then a mother and two second year cubs) and get close enough in zodiacs to grab some pretty good photos - my best bear photos will be tomorrow - stay tuned. It is also polar plunge day - I wimp out but this allows me to be Brad's official photographer. The actual official photographer got some great photos of folks doing the polar plunge. Brad reported that it was a bit colder than the Antarctic plunge he did back in February. One of the staff (John Houston - part Inuit, an artist and filmmaker), stayed in the Arctic water (around 35 degrees F) for about 20 minutes...talk about ice water for blood!
Getting ready
A 9, a 9, and a 3 from the Russian judge
Oh yeah, it's cold!
Comments
Post a Comment