Lower Savage Islands - Nanook Harbour - 17th August

We reached our destination, the Lower Savage Islands, at around 8am. It was an overcast day with a slight drizzle but a calm sea. The islands are at the entrance to Frobisher Bay, some 150 miles from Iqaluit.

Before we disembarked, I saw this large iceberg not far away from the ship.

A one and a half hour Zodiac tour of the islands was planned for the morning. As we were in the second group leaving at 10.30am, we had plenty of time for breakfast.

One of the Zodiacs from the first group exploring the channels between the islands.

Our Zodiac was driven by Claudia. We were fortunate, as the rain that had been falling for most of the morning had now stopped. It was a short ride from the ship to the channel where we were going to cruise. The channel split the island in two and, as we entered it, we saw a harbour seal lying on one of the rocks at the edge of the sea.

 

Further on we saw our first polar bear! It was some way off and high up on the side of a hill that overlooked the channel. We took loads of photos and video as the bear watched us and sniffed the air, then it turned and headed up the hill. We saw it several more times until it finally disappeared over the summit.

 

Apart from the bears, there were many black guillemots flying about and diving into the water. I spent some time taking slow motion video of these fascinating black and white birds that flap their wings incredibly fast. In slow motion, I could see how the combination of their rapidly flapping wings and furious paddling of their webbed feet, enabled them to take off from the water.  

The channel between the islands ran for several miles. It was a very peaceful, beautiful place to visit.

Towards the end of our tour, we saw our second polar bear. Like the first, it was high up on the side of a mountain. Its white fur contrasted dramatically with the grey mountain rocks. It appeared to be foraging in a grassy hollow on the mountainside.

 

After taking more photos, we headed back to the ship and had our lunch. While we were eating, the ship was repositioned about ten miles to Nanook Harbour, on the north shore of the Hudson Strait. Nanook Harbour is a short fjord of about a mile in length.

Once again, we were in the second group for the Zodiac tour, leaving at 4.15pm. This gave me time to write up the blog and, unlike on the last cruise, I have been able to maintain the blog on a daily basis. All I will have to do is add the photos when I get back to London.

In our group, we were the last to board the Zodiacs and were on our own with Claudia driving. She took us on a short tour of the inlet in steady light rain. As we went up the inlet, we passed a waterfall made up of two streams pouring into the fjord.

Further on, high up on one of the mountains, Claudia said there were two sleeping polar bears. I couldn’t see them at all! All I could see were what appeared to be patches of snow. Wendy managed to take the photo below showing the two white blobs. However, after seeing photos taken by other passengers, I can confirm they were a mother and her cub.

Shortly after the sighting of the bears, we reached the end of the inlet and turned round. The weather was not improving and so we asked Claudia to speed back to the ship.

After the briefing and recap, we stayed in the theatre to see a slide show of Peggy’s photos. I had assumed they would be her cruise photos, which I was far from sure I wanted to see! However, much to our surprise, they were slides of her ceramics, paintings and photographs. She is an accomplished artist and we were all very impressed with her work.

After the slide show, we went for dinner with Peggy, Richard, Rowena, Norman, Brian and Brigitte. It was another most enjoyable evening and the food was exceptionally good.

The bad news is that the weather is forecast to get worse, which means our programme for tomorrow at Akpatok Island is subject to change. We have a 90 mile journey due south across the Hudson Strait, to arrive at the island at 8am tomorrow morning.