Landscapes and Polar Bears

The Arctic is home to 4 million inhabitants, including 220,000 from ten different indigenous people. Today, we went to the community of Pond Inlet (Nunavut, Canada). This community is situated at the northern tip of Baffin Island and has been home to the Inuit for countless generations. Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik in Inuktitut) means “the place where Mitima is buried” but was named in 1818 by explorer John Ross for John Pond (an English astronomer).

Looking out at Pond Inlet from the ship

Upon a wet landing at Pond Inlet, we were led through the town by a local guide. She pointed out old buildings such as schools that were rebuilt at a larger scale due to the growing population. We proceeded up the hill to the Nattinak Visitors’ Centre, which opened in 1998. Though the community is fairly small, the museum is impressive. There was an exhibit on traditional ways of life in the High Arctic with actual artifacts and replicas of tools and equipment that the Inuit have utilized.

Part of the exhibit at the museum displaying traditional clothing and hunting gear

Strolling through the town, we saw sod houses. In the summer months, Inuit would build sod houses to live in. The walls were made of sod taken from the ground and traditionally covered with skins and whale ribs for support. Pond Inlet is remote, with grocery items only restocked once a week, weather and flights permitting. The ocean is ice free for only three and a half months (sometimes less), so importing goods to the community is a struggle.

Walking down the hill back to the ship

Our visit to the community was cut short, as the sea ice was rapidly closing in. If we hadn’t left quickly, we probably would have been stuck! Nature is powerful, and we so often take it for granted. This experience with rapidly approaching ice reminded me of the time we were in Antarctica and the kayakers got stuck in ice for over five hours… yikes! Luckily, today no one was stuck. Everyone made it back on the ship quickly and we enjoyed an afternoon at sea with beautifully reflected landscapes.

Photographing ice floes from my cabin 

Clouds reflected in the icy water

Mountains reflected in the gloomy, cold, Arctic weather

At one point, we circumnavigated this iceberg... the largest we've seen yet!

After dinner tonight, we were treated to something even more special… another polar bear! With minimal sea ice, I’ve been really surprised at how many polar bears we’ve seen both on land and on ice floes. As the ship approached the bear, it appeared that the bear was sleeping. Inching closer and closer, the bear lifted his head to smell us and proceeded to get up. He approached the ship, leaping over gaps in the ice floes.

A polar bear leaps across the ice floe to approach our ship

The polar bear checks us out (nice timing with the bird flying by too!)

He walked across the ice staring at us for quite a long time, when he suddenly turned in the direction he came from. Just as we thought the show was over, he started hunting a seal on the ice! He stalked the seal as a cat would, crouching low, hiding behind taller pieces of ice and circling around his prey. As he approached the backside of the seal and made a leap, the seal escaped. Everyone let out a frustrated sigh (we were hoping for a kill… sorry, seal!) and went back to their cabins buzzing with excitement that we at least got to see another bear… with a beautiful landscape background at that!

A polar bear cautiously approaches our ship

That's all for now... Stay tuned for more Greenland/Iceland/Canadian High Arctic adventures. Also, be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified of new posts, as there is sometimes unreliable internet! Follow my instagram @elissatitle for more photography posts.