Seals and hares and bears, oh my!

 Thursday September 4

Overnight we traveled along the south side of Devon Island to Radstock Bay, specifically to the area around Caswall Tower. This is one of the two best Thule sites in Canada and also the site of a foundational 30 year polar bear research effort starting in 1974. The Thule culture was the predecessor to current day Inuits; these cultures are distinguished by their artifacts but may not be different ethnically. 

Before we could go ashore to visit the archaeological site, staff members surveyed the area to ensure there were no polar bears in the vicinity. It seemed awfully barren to us (for a bear) although we saw a bearded seal pup and an arctic fox from the ship.

Once ashore, we viewed the remains of 4 temporary winter dwellings, dating to perhaps 900 years ago. The dwellings probably housed 5-6 people. They had long entrance tunnels and were dug into the slope of the seashore. The shoreline has since moved out by about a half mile. The walls of the dwellings were made of shale slabs and bowhead whale bones, with originally a sod roof. Northern Alaska has similar dwellings, but there they can be larger because driftwood is used for the structure. 

Closer to the current shore, there were two more sets of houses with no whale bones, presumably later after the sea had receded some. 

We were amused by the antics of two Arctic hares, who clearly have adopted the houses as their territory. Arctic hares that live this far north do not change colors but remain white (a true white) all year long. The tips and insides of their ears are black, to absorb the sun’s warmth on these sensitive spots. The beach is mostly small pieces of shale with occasional moss campion, mountain avens and a very low growing willow, but up near the houses the vegetation is richer. This is presumably from human food waste adding nutrients to the soil. 

Once we were all back on the ship, we headed to Beechey Island (about 30 miles away) for the afternoon. While we were at lunch, we felt the ship make a sudden turn… so we all hurried to see what was happening, picking up coats, cameras and binoculars on the way. A polar bear was making its way across a steep scree covered slope. We watched as it moved to a grassy slope and then seemed to run down the slope to chase a gull. It stopped to eat a bird and some grass (very unusual) and then settled down for a nap in the sun. 

Mid afternoon we reached Beechey Island. We learned that for many years the winds and ice prevent landing here. This is the location where the first traces were found of the ill-fated  1846-47 Franklin expedition. Three of Franklin’s men died here between January 1st and April 20th, 1847.  Members from three search expeditions in 1850 found their tombstones on Beechey.  The current headstones were placed in 1993.

The Belcher expedition in 1853 left one of its five ships at Beechey while the rest continued north and west (unsuccessfully). The Beechey contingent used the remnants of a wrecked American whaling ship to construct the Northumberland House to serve as a refuge for any Franklin survivors. We walked from the gravesite to the house. It was good to spend so much of today outdoors and on land. 

This evening after dinner we entered the beginning of a drift ice field.  Many of us spent an hour or more watching a distant swimming polar bear with her cub, and later seals on ice floes. Tomorrow promises much more of these activities as we move further north and west than anyone on the ship (besides the captain ) has gone before— a true expedition! 

Pictured (this was a tough choice today): 

Polar bear on the grassy slope, same bear eating grass, mother polar bear and cub swimming, Arctic hares, bearded seal entering the water