Thursday, August 9, 2007

Hello Readers,

What other synonyms for the word amazing are there that I haven’t already used? Fantastic, incredible, stupendous, awesome, etc…. Every one of these words describes my expedition so far, today was no exception. Following our exciting day in Kimmirut yesterday we were all exhausted. Once again the Captain and his crew worked tirelessly through the night when everybody else on the ship was sleeping away their exhaustion. Their efforts brought our ship from Kimmirut to the Savage Islands in the period of only one night. The Savage Islands are 2 islands that look as if they were once 1 land mass that was cut in half with a knife. We planned to take the Zodiacs on a 1 and ½ hour cruise through that narrow channel separating the islands. Unfortunately it was a very misty morning with very rough waters so although we did go on the cruise we did not see what we might have been able to see if the day was clear. That is not to say that we did not see some pretty amazing things!!! The first thing I saw was the icebergs, everywhere I turned my head there would be one there. There were also large deposits of residue snow that didn’t melt when winter ended. These piles of snow and ice usually ended in magnificent waterfalls that flowed into the narrow straight. At one particularly big waterfall my Zodiac group (including myself) drank from the waterfall. It was the most pure and most incredibly refreshing water I had ever drunk. We also saw our third polar bear. This one was much larger than the female we spotted on Walrus Island so I assume it was male. I have said it before and I will say it again, Polar bears are magnificently noble creatures. Following the (extremely chilly) cruise we set sail immediately in order to make the 300km+ journey up the east coast of Baffin Island to the Pangnirtung Fjord. From there we will hike to the Arctic Circle!!!! The rest of the day was filled with talks, lectures and movies. We had a lecture on Snow and another on Land Mammals of the Arctic, a 1 and ½ hour open talk on Climate Change; we watched part of the discovery channel series “Planet Earth”. We also watched a documentary film on Caribou. I have talked with some of the Inuit students on our journey and I now feel that I have a better understanding of their culture. I can only hope that the remaining days will get even better!

Thanks for Reading,

Connor

P.S. Just when I thought it wouldn’t happen I am starting to get seasick.

Dear Family and Friends,

I miss you all and am envious of high temperatures back at home. All I can say to my parents and my brother is that I love you more than you can imagine.

Love your Son, Brother, Cousin, Nephew, Grandson and Friend,

Connor