Baffin Bay

 Monday September 1

Today was a day at sea, cruising north in the Baffin Sea. It was a foggy day and it was hard to even see Baffin Island to our west. The Inuit communities in this section of Baffin Island prefer to have ships stay offshore, to not disrupt their communities. Their livelihood depends on subsistence hunting of marine mammals, so they are concerned about ships interrupting hunts or changing animal behaviors. So we are proceeding up to Buchan Gulf, a lovely fjord where we hope to spend most of tomorrow.  We had our kayaking briefing today, including what to do if we see a polar bear or a walrus in the water while kayaking…a walrus and an inflatable kayak would not mix well.

All of these various geographical features are named for European, mostly English, explorers of the 19th century. The end of the Napoleonic Wars left thousands of sailors and ships officers without employment, so there was great enthusiasm for exploration voyages. Finding a northern route from Europe to the far east was a prime objective, as Spain and Portugal still controlled most of the southern shipping lanes. We have heard several presentations from the historians on board about these expeditions, most of which had tragic endings due to poor preparation. On the other hand, realizing that ships in the 1840s had rudimentary desalination capability was a surprise! 

Every day we have a cocktail hour prior to dinner that includes presentations from the naturalists and a preview of the next day’s activities.  This afternoon, partway through a presentation we sensed that the ship was turning. Then came the announcement that the captain had spotted some killer whales and was diverting the ship’s course to enable a viewing. Everyone rushed out of the lounge to grab binoculars, cameras and outerwear. We saw three killer whales (a large male, a female and a calf). It is unusual to see them this far north. An exciting end to the day! 

Pictured: Glaucous gull (speckly 1st year plumage — most gulls take three years to achieve adult plumage), northern fulmar light morph, male killer whale, all three killer whales.