While on expedition, one tends to lose track of time. Not hours and minutes, since activities are planned out to the minute throughout the day. But dates and days of the week tend to get forgotten as the days and nights flash by on the voyage. The only indications of recognizing dates are when someone has a birthday (celebrated with cake and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday during dinner).
But today, we couldn’t help but notice it was Friday the 13th. Despite the negative connotations of the day, none of us felt unlucky today. First of all, we are lucky enough to get to participate in this amazing expedition. Second, we are lucky to have such an exceptional and diverse group of staff and students to share the experience with.
Thirdly, we are lucky to have all these incredible sights to see along the way – including today’s stop at Monumental Island, right on the corner of Baffin Island. As we prepared to board the zodiacs, our resident mammal expert, Dr. David Gray, just happened to mention that every time he’s visited this island, he’s seen polar bears. Everyone was tingling with excitement at the possibility – to see a polar bear would be a fine notch in the SOI Arctic 10 expedition.
What David neglected to tell us, is that he’s only visited the island twice.
Nevertheless, despite jinxing it by predicting polar bears, we were treated to a sight that we couldn’t have imagined. Not one, not two, but SEVEN polar bears, including three cubs, graced our camera lenses, binoculars and wide eyes as we circled the island in zodiacs.
Last year, I don’t even think we saw seven polar bears on the entire expedition. Admittedly, one of those rare bears last year was chowing down on a seal, so that made up for their lack of numbers. This year, we may not have caught the bears at mealtime, but they still put on a visual feast for us.
Our first sightings were of two solitary bears, which we later determined to be males. They were in good shape and seemed unalarmed as long as we kept our distance. Then we spotted a mama bear and cub make a beeline for the crest of the island. It’s obvious that their main concern was to avoid us.
Then, as we rounded the last corner to head back towards the ship, we spotted another female bears with two cubs swimming near the shore. Without getting too close, we manoeuvred in for a better look. Before long, all three were clamboring up the rocks onto dry land. We continued to watch them for a few more minutes before leaving them in peace.
With that bit of good luck behind us, we continue to make our way to our next destination – the community of Pangnirtung. This is our third northern community visit, and my second visit to Pang, having gone there during last year’s expedition. I’m looking forward to seeing how it has changed and how much is has stayed the same.
Here’s hoping that our good luck continues with some bowhead whale sightings and maybe even a bit more ice to play on…
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