Exploring & learning as we sail north

One of the wonderful aspects of these journeys with Quark is the opportunity to learn about the part of our world that we’re visiting.

We spent yesterday (Sat 27 August) at sea covering several hundred kilometres travelling north along the Greenland coast – it was a perfect day to be inside with low grey clouds, a little rain and gentle seas. We had the opportunity to learn from our glaciologist , Colin Souness and ornithologist, Fabrice Genevois.

Colin provided fascinating information about the cryosphere, how many of the world’s glaciers are retreating and the impacts of this. Fabrice spoke about the adaptation of birds to different Arctic climates such as the high Arctic (arid, polar desert above 80°N) and low Arctic (luxurious tundra below approx 66°N). We are currently travelling through the mid Arctic, but will be in the high Arctic in a day or two – it is fascinating to see the differences as we move north.

Later in the day we heard from Chris Hadfield and his son, Evan. Evan provided an overview of the Generator show that they’re developing while we travel, and the reasons they are doing this. Chris spoke about what it took to be an astronaut, what it felt like to be in space, and what he wants to achieve now that he is retired from the space program. But his opening bio was impressive: engineer, test pilot, astronaut, 3 space missions, Commander of the Space Shuttle, Commander of the International Space Station.

This morning I woke around 5:30am to see large and small icebergs gliding by the cabin window. By around 6am I grabbed my camera bag and headed to the bow. It is getting noticeably cooler now, but the bow is sheltered from the wind, and with grey skies and gentle seas, it was a great time to capture icebergs and landscapes of Greenland’s west coast. Some of the icebergs were amazing – one had a giant arch, another looked like it was towing 2 others – then the shape totally changed as it sailed passed & other sides becomes visible.

Over our yummy breakfast (the food is great on the KK), the ship anchored in Parker Snow Bay, and soon after we were in the zodiacs for a short ride to the shore. We landed on a rocky shore, with tundra and wildflowers stretching back and across a valley that was maybe 2-3 km wide. In the distance was a retreating glacier, now a long way back from the shore. I chose the gentle walk along and around the shoreline, taking photos and generally enjoying the peace & quiet.

We are now seeing new birdlife – this morning I caught a glimpse of a Gyrfalcon flying over our ship – a magnificent white bird. And while we were at the glacier, a flock of about 10-12 Canada geese flew across the sky, honking as they soared high above us.

Once back on the ship, the anchor was hauled up and we were off to Kiminski Bay, a short sail away. Now it was time for a helicopter ride above the glacier that is also retreating, but is still calving icebergs into the sea.

I’m fairly sure we had the same pilot as two days ago –he certainly flies low, and the views are spectacular. I thought this would be a great opportunity to capture some video on my iPhone – unfortunately although I tapped “video,” I forgot to click the red button – oops! So unfortunately there is no video of our flight out to our landing above the glacier, however I did get some of it on the way back – and also some stills of the glacier front. Spectacular!

I can report that we landed on rocks above the glacier, then walked down a loose rocky slope to sit on the rocks and take it all in – yep, managed this without any catastrophes this time, although it confirmed my dislike of walking on loose rocky slopes!

Tomorrow (Monday) is our last day in Greenland – our clocks have been set back 1 hour. We will visit Qaanaaq, noted in our daily program as “the world’s northern-most palindrome!” Then Tuesday we’ll cross to Grise Fjord in Nunavut, Canada.

Days are getting longer, with little darkness now. Maybe we’ll see whales along the way!