A Placemaking Journal

Friday, July 24, 2015

The Canadian Coast Guard has given us a strong warning to not enter Cumberland Sound due to the 9-10/10 ice. This sea ice is 9 to 10 years old, with sporadic glaciers that are much older. So we sadly didn’t make it into Pangnirtung.

Instead, we viewed gorgeous ice formations and occasional wildlife on the ice flows, against striking pewter skies. Still learning all the distinguishing features between sea ice and glacier ice, the latter has large crystals and fizzes when water touches it. What we saw today are dry-dock icebergs surrounded with vast amounts of sea ice.

For scale, if you look closely at today’s photo, there is a zodiac full of people at the base of this iceberg. To stay safe in the event that the ‘berg were to roll, they were approximately three times the height of the iceberg away from it. I didn’t hear an estimate on its height, but it was clearly well over 100 feet tall.

While the forecast was 8 C as a high, wind chill was around 3. We spent most of the day bundled up out on deck, with tea and coffee constantly served, on the lookout for wildlife.

We saw seals and a host of birds, including a Peregrine Falcon and a Palmerin Yeager. We had an amazing barbeque (polar-que would be a better term) on the back deck in the brilliant — albeit cold — sunshine.

I will sign off for the day tomorrow, as we spend the full day at sea, crossing the Davis Strait to Greenland. We will cross one timezone a night for the next two nights, as we head east. Davis Strait is a rift zone with some of the youngest crust on earth. I’ll check back in with you on Monday, to deliver Sunday’s log on Nuuk.

To read the entire Heart of the Arctic series, go here.

–Hazel Borys

If PlaceShakers is our soapbox, our Facebook page is where we step down, grab a drink and enjoy a little conversation. Looking for a heads-up on the latest community-building news and perspective from around the web? Click through and “Like” us and we’ll keep you in the loop.