Arctic Explorer: Canada to Greenland

Arrive in Ottawa today and check in at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel. Get a good night's rest; your Arctic adventure begins tomorrow!

Lodging: Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel

The expedition begins today when you are met and transferred to the airport to board a charter flight bound for Resolute. Flying north, the countryside changes from the verdant greens of southern Canada to the rocky scenery of the north. We’ll fly over Hudson Bay to the small community of Resolute Bay, at the western end of Lancaster Sound. We’ll be met on landing, and in the afternoon we’ll begin embarkation on the Akademik Ioffe, our home for the next 11 nights. Once settled in on board, we’ll meet the expedition crew as we sail out of Resolute Bay, keeping a constant lookout for wildlife, ice, and adventure.

Meals: Dinner

Today, we’ll revel in the diversity of northern wildlife as we reach Prince Leopold Island. With a little luck, we’ll hope to see the extraordinary looking walrus and perhaps even a polar bear.

We’ll plan to do some zodiac cruising along the base of some of the island's great bird cliffs where large populations of murres, kittiwakes, and gulls are in residence. We’ll be literally surrounded by a profusion of black guillemots in a frenzy of activity. Amongst them are the fledglings attempting their first dramatic flights from their cliff-top homes.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Leaving Prince Leopold Island, we’ll sail east along the southern shore of Devon Island. Here, ice tumbles slowly down to the sea in the form of flowing glaciers, and the remarkable Arctic tundra is a carpet of flowering beauty.

On land, we hope to see rare and endangered muskox and Arctic hare as well as falcons and hawks soaring over the cliffs. Another animal we’ll be on the lookout for is the rare and very shy walrus, occasionally spotted near Dundas Harbor and in Croker Bay.

Today we’ll hope to stop at the historical site of Dundas Harbor, once a Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost from 1924 to 1951. This abandoned site is one of incredible beauty, nestled against cliffs with summer wildflowers blooming along the rocky point. We can often spot icebergs in the small bay in front of the buildings.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We arrive at Cobourg Island at the eastern end of Jones Sound - this is remote High Arctic Canada at its wild best. Cobourg is 65% ice and the only exposed land juts up in the form of rugged peaks and highlands. It’s also a region renowned for plentiful wildlife. Summer currents bring ice and food stocks that lure vast numbers of seabirds, seals and whales to the area.

Nirjutiqavvik is Cobourg Island’s National Wildlife Area, one of only two such parks in Nunavut. Here, we’ll be astonished by the profusion of magnificent seabirds. Among them are 30,000 pairs of Black-legged kittiwakes and 160,000 pairs of Thick-billed murres that occupy tiny ledges on the high cliffs along the coast. We may also spot Northern fulmars and rare Ivory gulls that also breed in the area. We will attempt to make our way south of Cobourg Island to Lady Ann Strait. Here, a polyna keeps the sea from freezing over, resulting in a dependable fishing zone for seabirds when all other waters may have frozen over.

Continuing in an easterly direction, we arrive at Jones Sound between Ellesmere and Devon Islands. Jones Sound teems with marine mammals and seabirds during the summer. It’s also a spectacular location to observe sea ice and icebergs. . If the ice permits, we’ll attempt a visit to Grise Fjord – known locally as Aujuittuq, the place that never melts. Here, on the southern shores of Ellesmere Island, we’ll discover pre-Dorset, Dorset and Thule sites dating back thousands of years. The first Europeans known to explore this area were led by William Baffin in 1616 and since then adventurers have been continually drawn to the area.

Grise Fjord is Canada’s northernmost civilian community, just over 1,500 km away from the North Pole. Here in this community, hemmed in by breathtaking glacier-covered mountains, we’ll hope to visit with the local Inuit and learn of their fascinating culture that manages to survive in the harsh and unforgiving Arctic environment.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

As we cross Melville Basin to Greenland, our educational program will jump into full swing. Join our naturalists, historians and geographers as we learn about the region. Or join one of our staff out on deck, searching for wildlife as we cross the sea. We will also keep a lookout for the most pagophilic (or ice-loving) of all the baleen whales, the great bowhead whale, also known as the Greenland right whale. It is estimated that there are less than 500 individuals in the Northwest Atlantic population.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

When we reach northern Greenland, we hope to visit Qaanaaq (pronounced kay-nak). At 77º north, it’s one of the northernmost municipalities in the world. Qaanaaq is also a gateway to Greenland. For thousands of years voyagers landed here, including the most recent immigration of Inuit from Baffin Island only 130 years ago. We’ll meet some of these friendly locals and learn about their traditional ways that are still followed today including hunting practices for narwhals, polar bears, seals, and walruses.

We’ll also encounter some European history in Qaanaaq. Knud Rasmussen, the famous Greenlandic explorer, established European roots in the region by initiating the Danish Literary Expedition here in 1903 and 1904. Since then, many more European Arctic expeditions have started from this area, including the Thule Expeditions. Rasmussen’s fifth expedition, his famous dog sled journey, took him from here across Canada and on to Alaska, then to Siberia.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After exploring northern Greenland, we’ll turn south and investigate Kap York, in Melville Bay. This area, surrounded by glaciers, is known for late summer break-up and early autumn freeze of sea ice. In addition to all the ice, the area is typically hit with windy conditions and stormy seas. But don’t let this bother you; these conditions actually add to the area’s appeal.

During the late winter and early spring, strong winds and high seas usually ensure the ice is full of long leads, or cracks, that narwhal and seals exploit, enticing polar bears to hunt these waters. In fact, there is so much wildlife in the area that parts of the bay have been declared a national park and hunting is prohibited in certain areas.

We’ll hope for favourable sea conditions here so we can relish the splendid wildlife. We’ll even find wonderful birds living along the shores of Melville Bay. Thousands of little auks, or dovekies, nest along the cliffs and via Zodiac boats we’ll hope to approach some of these incredible nesting sites.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today we’ll voyage back out into the waters of Baffin Bay, looking for the ice sheet usually found in the middle of these waters. Here, amongst the ice, we’ll hope to spot seals, polar bears, whales and various lightweight birds such as the dovekies, Sabine’s gulls and several species of jaegers.

Given a heavy ice year, this can be a challenging area to navigate and our ice pilot will be put to work helping us find (or avoid) the ice. During the crossing back to Canada, we’ll hope to explore different types and thicknesses of ice. Our onboard seminars will help us understand how the right ice in the right place is critical to the Arctic environment.

We’ll enter Canadian waters further south than at our departure point and, if ice and weather conditions permit, we’ll sail down Eclipse Sound to reach Pond Inlet. This Canadian Arctic community, located on the northern end of Baffin Island, spends much of the summer season hunting game and fish such as char and narwhal that abound in local waters.

Upon arrival here, we’ll be warmly greeted by the local community. We may even be treated to a remarkable display of Inuit culture including throat singing, drum dancing, Arctic game challenges as well as seeing a display of intricate Inuit carvings, paintings and clothing. Make sure to stop and talk with some of the children, who will be full of mischievous pranks and always ready to laugh.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Here we will approach the northern tip of Bylot Island, and specifically the majestic cliffs of Cape Hay. Weather permitting, we will disembark the ship for a Zodiac cruise along the base of a seabird colony that is home to Thick-billed murres, Black guillemots and Black-legged kittiwakes.

Bylot Island makes up part of the southern coast of Lancaster Sound, which is in many ways the wildlife access route into the central Arctic. The mixing of waters from Baffin Bay with the water of the Arctic archipelago provides a rich feeding ground for seals, whales and seabirds.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We will leave northern Baffin Island behind us as we cross Lancaster Sound and direct the nose of the ship into some of the large bays that indent the coast. Depending on ice conditions, we may stop in Maxwell Bay for a landing and hike into the Devon Island lowlands.

While hiking on the tundra, you will discover the dramatic contrast between an apparently barren landscape when looking at the horizon and the lush microclimate at your feet, covered in flowers of different colors. Our guides will interpret this ever changing landscape, introducing you to the adaptations that allow even the most fragile of flowers to survive.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We’ll sail north through Wellington Channel, part of the fabled Northwest Passage, which separates Cornwallis Island from Devon Island. Amidst this stunning scenery, we’ll hope to find a route through the sea ice as we watch for seabirds and marine mammals.

Later in the day, we’ll visit Beechey Island, located at 74º north, just over 15º of latitude from the North Pole. It’s here in this bleak spot that we’ll come across one of the many failed attempts to find the Northwest Passage. In 1845, three members of Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated expedition perished here. The story of what actually happened to these men is still shrouded in mystery, and the search for them has never been officially called off. Depending on ice conditions, we’ll go ashore and see the graves that mark the site of the hapless winter camp. Within a few years, the remaining members of the expedition also died during their struggle to return to safety.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The last day of our adventure will be in Resolute. We plan to arrive early in the morning in preparation for our charter flight out of the Arctic. Our last Zodiac ride will take us to shore for our transfer to the airport. We’ll fly south, reaching Ottawa by the end of the day. Upon arrival in Ottawa, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast

Transfer to the airport today for your flight home.