This morning, an early announcement woke everyone with news of a very pleasant surprise: narwhals! Several groups of the mythical cetaceans swam alongside National Geographic Endurance. We spotted them along both shorelines of the Buchan Gulf on the eastern side of Baffin Island. We all enjoyed observing them from a distance. Later, some kayakers had a chance to see them a bit closer. Meanwhile, adventurous hikers found caribou antlers ashore while learning about the ecology of the Arctic. Long hikers also had unique encounters, including an opportunity to admire a snowy owl! Most of us had the chance to investigate the carcass of a young narwhal on the beach. Hikes in the afternoon allowed us to learn more about the tundra. We visited the remains of some old Inuit winter hunting camps, rounding out a great day exploring the Canadian Arctic.
9/9/2024
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National Geographic Endurance
Uummannaq Fjord
The day began with a Zodiac operation of the Inukassaat Fjord, north of Uummannaq. As we were greeted with the grand mountains of the west Greenland fjords, the icebergs made loud sounds of calving and the variety of birds flying over the landscape reminded us how vast the fjord is. For the afternoon activity, National Geographic Endurance proceeded further into the Kangerlussuaq Fjord where there was a landing site with an old hut used by the Greenlandic Inuit. The hikes that followed allowed us to get a clear view of the valley with the glacier and the tundra flora of the arctic autumn, giving us its last display of colors before winter’s descent. After the daily recaps and another lovely dinner, the evening movie, “The Eskimo Experiment”, was shown as our cultural ambassador Peter Freuchen provided some context to the movie.
