Early in the morning we stopped at the entrance to Coningham Bay and went into the bay in zodiacs. It was a wet ride as the wind was high and coming straight at us. The bay has a very small entrance and belugas often get stranded in the bay, so polar bears are common here, prowling the beaches waiting for the belugas. There was a polar bear on the beach outside Coningham Bay.
It was very cold and we’d been advised to wear a lot of clothes. When we went inside the bay we saw another polar bear, but I had a lot of difficulty taking shots. The zodiac was tossing around and it was difficult to press the button with my thick Icelandic mittens on. We saw another bear and a couple of Arctic foxes, as well as some ravens and some terns and ducks. It was hilly around the bay but the cloud was low enough that you couldn’t see the tops of the hills.
Outside the bay on our way back we saw a polar bear going to sleep.
Everyone was pretty excited after seeing polar bears, but I’m more interested in musk ox and the dramatic scenery you can see in the Arctic. It the afternoon I was to get it all!
We crossed the water between Coningham Bay and Bellot Strait. When we saw the strait it was beginning to drizzle.
We went past a waterfall. Around here, the only vegetation is lichens and mosses, so all the green in the photo is moss.
The strait is very narrow, and we spent several hours going up it towards Zenith Point. On our way, we saw a lot of musk ox on the high ridges! They were very hard to spot, as they were about the same colour as their surrounds.
We reached Zenith Point, the most northerly point of the North American contiguous landmass. It wasn’t raining, and the sea was pretty calm, so we went ashore. It was a really beautiful area and I saw a musk ox skeleton.
We reached Zenith Point, the most northerly point of the North American contiguous landmass. It wasn’t raining, and the sea was pretty calm, so we went ashore. It was a really beautiful area and I saw a musk ox skeleton.
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