This morning opened with an archeological briefing on do’s and don’ts when we are on land. Brendan first defined an artifact – any object made, shaped or modified by humans that is older than 50 years. He paused, looked around, and commented that he was looking out at a sea of artifacts. Ha ha ha ha.

The main event of the day was a zodiac cruise to Akpatok Island. See the map at the top of this post for its location in Ungava Bay. Akpatok Island is home to 500,000 pairs of sea birds, most notably thick-billed murres. The sun was out, but we were warned to wear both warm and waterproof clothing.

Here is my chosen wardrobe: long underwear, cozy jogging pants, turtleneck sweater. Down jacket, rain pants, Adventure Canada windbreaker. Extra warm socks, toque, waterproof gloves with silk liners, and the provided rain boots. And of course a life jacket, my binoculars, my iPhone and my point-and-shoot camera. I was not convinced, heading for the gangway, that I would be able to both clamber into the zodiac and move my arms and hands enough to take photos! SPOILER ALERT: I was warm during the cruise. Wet, but warm. ☺️

Riding out to the Island was a quite moist experience. I was second from the front and so shielded from the worst of the spray, but still was so glad I had my waterproof clothing on. Taking photos was a challenge, sadly, but I did manage to get a photo of two of the SEVEN (!) polar bears we sighted.

Akpatok has 1,000-foot vertical cliffs rising from the ocean with a low-tide stretch of beach. Thick-billed murres nest in horizontal cracks in the limestone cliff. When their chicks are three weeks old, and do not yet have flight feathers, they are turfed off the cliff and expected to find the ocean and start their lives. Some of them fall and do not survive. Polar bears and arctic foxes who arrive via sea ice in the spring and leave the same way in the fall, feed on these fallen chicks.

In spite of the photographic challenge, I did manage to get a perhaps passable photo. Both bears have thick-billed murre chicks in their mouths. It reminds me of my one photo of a rhinoceros taken in Tanzania where, if you use your least critical eye, you will clearly see is a rhino. Please use the same criteria when viewing my polar bear pic.

The most thrilling part of this excursion was when a fragrance of murres (look it up!) flew right over us.

A two-hour expedition which I thought would be far too long passed in a heartbeat. My entire exterior covered with salt from the ocean spray, I returned to my cabin having just had one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.

Tomorrow we are venturing into Nunavik, a self-governing Inuit area in northern Quebec, to hopefully take the long-promised hike. See you then!