Dundas Harbour, or Talluruti "a woman chin with tattoos on it"
is an abandoned settlement established in 1924 on Devon Island by the Canadian government to promote their sovereignty of the area.
The Arctic islands were transferred from Britain to Canada in 1880 but little interest was taken in the area until increased whaling activity in the early 1900's fostered a "use it or lose it" attitude from the government and detachments of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were sent to collect customs dues and scare off any foreign claims to the Islands.
Approach to Dundas Harbour
Great excitement on board when, at 0600hrs, the ship comes to an unexpected halt and the announcement is made over the tannoy that our first polar bear has been spotted.
There are three bears off our starboard side and appear as tiny moving white dots against the darker scree.
The reality of the potential dangers associated with these magnificent animals becomes apparent when the landings scheduled for this morning were cancelled as a further bear had been spotted next to the landing site.
Plan B is a zodiac cruise.
This fella looked quite undernourished, something our bear expert said was becoming too common
The second half of the day saw us sail around the corner into Croker Bay, one of the many inlets that knife into the south coast of Devon Island.
The glacier that flows from the icecap on the island is approximately 4km wide.
Mrs M was very keen on photographing her sea boots
A private, luxury yacht, the Shinkai, was lurking around. Launched in 2022, it is an ice class explorer yacht that comes with a 4x4 and a submarine.
It has a 22 tonne gyroscope for stability designed to stop vodka slopping in heavy seas, something that the former Russian KGB agent millionaire worth £300m who owns the boat will be grateful for.
Peps Log : Sample from Croker Bay
Photoplankton
Spring summer autumn bloom all at the same time in Arctic
Sea angel - sea slug plankton provides 80% O2 by photosynthesis to planet
Comments