Lady Franklin Island, Baffin Island
On the last full day of our voyage we reached a lonely and desolate group of rocks at the entrance to Cumberland Sound, at the south end of Baffin Island. Lady Franklin Island and the surrounding skerries lie in treacherous waters dotted with icebergs, poorly charted and often fog bound. The largest of this group is a mere mile across and 700 feet high, named for the wife of the Arctic explorer who died trying to discover the north-west passage.
In common with other similarly lonely spots around the world, these areas are home to some interesting wildlife. A landing on these turbulent shores was quite out of the question but the waters around the islands were an ideal location for our nimble fleet of Zodiacs to explore.
We set out with high hopes of polar bears and more. While a bear was sighted, it did not prove to be co-operative and soon disappeared among the rocks on the summit of the island. The waters around the islands were inhabited by many seabirds – most notably a large population of black guillemots, many of which were still carrying fish for their nearly full grown chicks tucked away in rock crevice nests. On land a few peregrine falcons swooped over the rocky cliffs and headlands, no doubt making a good living from preying on the seabird communities here. A lucky few saw Atlantic puffins, while the rarest sighting of the day was a juvenile Sabine’s gull – an Arctic breeding species beginning to make its migration south at the end of the Arctic summer, a reminder that tomorrow we will disembark and begin our southward journey home.
On the last full day of our voyage we reached a lonely and desolate group of rocks at the entrance to Cumberland Sound, at the south end of Baffin Island. Lady Franklin Island and the surrounding skerries lie in treacherous waters dotted with icebergs, poorly charted and often fog bound. The largest of this group is a mere mile across and 700 feet high, named for the wife of the Arctic explorer who died trying to discover the north-west passage.
In common with other similarly lonely spots around the world, these areas are home to some interesting wildlife. A landing on these turbulent shores was quite out of the question but the waters around the islands were an ideal location for our nimble fleet of Zodiacs to explore.
We set out with high hopes of polar bears and more. While a bear was sighted, it did not prove to be co-operative and soon disappeared among the rocks on the summit of the island. The waters around the islands were inhabited by many seabirds – most notably a large population of black guillemots, many of which were still carrying fish for their nearly full grown chicks tucked away in rock crevice nests. On land a few peregrine falcons swooped over the rocky cliffs and headlands, no doubt making a good living from preying on the seabird communities here. A lucky few saw Atlantic puffins, while the rarest sighting of the day was a juvenile Sabine’s gull – an Arctic breeding species beginning to make its migration south at the end of the Arctic summer, a reminder that tomorrow we will disembark and begin our southward journey home.
