This morning National Geographic Explorer is sailing in thick fog in Lancaster Sound. Fog is very common in high latitudes, especially in fair weather when there is little wind, when warmer air encounters cold Arctic water. The fog begins to clear as we approach land. As the ship anchors along the northern coast of Bylot Island the bird cliffs of Cape Hay are revealed. Bylot Island is a Migratory Bird Sanctuary within Sirmilik National Park in Nunavut.
It’s not long after breakfast that we take to the water in the Zodiacs. The fog continues, coming and going making the cliffs a mystical scene, like in a dream. Seabirds are flying every which way, and are also on the water in in front of our boats feeding and bathing. Kittiwakes and Brunnick’s guillemot nest in great numbers on the cliffs that tower above us. We can hear the high-pitched calls of the newly fledged guillemot chicks that recently tumbled down the cliff from their nesting ledge but can not yet fly.
Bird cliffs are heaven on Earth for predators. A peregrine falcon is spotted patrolling along the cliff edge, while glaucous gulls sit perched on ledges waiting for their chance to grab and egg or newly hatched chick. Black guillemots swim in groups close to shore making short dives and are observed coming up with small fish in their beaks.
Perhaps equally as impressive as the sights of the bird cliff are the sounds echoing off the layers of sedimentary rocks that have been folded, faulted, and uplifted into position, providing the perfect nesting habitat for tens of thousands of birds. Amazing to think that in just a few weeks these cliffs will fall silent, as the birds will leave in mass for their migration south to open water and warmer climes for the coming winter.
A Zodiac cruise in the High Arctic would not be complete without a hot toddy while enduring the wind and damp foggy weather. Indeed, the ship’s hotel department had the “Viking Floating Bar” open for business offering hot chocolate with a variety of additives. After all, it’s five o’clock somewhere!
Back on board we spend the afternoon sailing west with one thing on our minds—ice and more ice, and hopefully encounters with the wildlife that call the ice home. Onward…
