Baffin Bay … Crossing to Arctic Canada

Our day was spent at sea, cruising through Baffin Bay … making the crossing from Greenland to Canada. We haven’t entered Canadian waters yet, however. Maybe later tonight or tomorrow morning.

Just because we spent the day at sea doesn’t mean that we had a slow day. Not by any means.

We got up at 7:00a to thick fog and northern fulmars flying around the ship. Since I’ve given up carrying a DSLR with a heavy, fast lens, I didn’t even attempt to photograph the birds. Just enjoyed their presence before heading down to breakfast.

After our morning meal, I did something I’ve never done while on an expedition before. I went to the ship’s spa for a hot stone massage. I can easily say that it was the best I’ve had anywhere … on ship or on land. Mui was equally pleased with his treatment later in the day. Thank you, Desiree.

Totally relaxed, I was ready for the rest of the day, which included a number of lectures — “Footsteps of Franklin: Into the Frozen Ice” … by historian Ken; “Permafrost: Frozen but Fragile” by glaciologist Jodie.

The daily recap & briefing consisted of a number of mini-lectures — why penguins are found only in the Southern Hemisphere (with the Galapagos Penguin the only species straddling the Equator … by ornithologist Adrian; the building blocks of the Arctic … by marine biologist Sam; zooplankton … by biologist Sylvia, who brought the house down with her description of how barnacles mate.

Christian, our Expedition Leader, wrapped up by saying that we changed course this afternoon to get closer to the edge of the sea ice. Later, during dinner, plates of broken up sea ice began banging against the hull as Ultramarine gently pushed them out of our way. Needless to say, we rushed through our meal to spend time on the outside decks to enjoy the experience that is always a highlight of polar voyages.

Tomorrow is planned as an expedition day. What that means is that we don’t know yet what we will be doing. Our progress overnight and weather conditions tomorrow will determine what activities will be in store for us.Read more