Adventure Canada's Northwest Passage Voyage Log

Into the Northwest Passage 2009 Aboard the Clipper Adventurer Expedition Log: August 20 September 1, 2009 written by Robert McGhee photos by Mike Beedell

Day One: Arriving in Ottawa Thursday, August 20, 2009 The expedition assembled in Ottawa, and gathered at an early evening briefing held in the Chateau Laurier hotel. In addition to making new acquaintances, many recognized friends made during earlier Adventure Canada voyages. After a brief introduction to the staff, and information on how the early morning flight to Resolute would be organized, most wandered off seeking dinner in the hot and humid evening. A midnight thunderstorm and a wakeup call at 5 am shortened the night.

Day Two: North to Resolute Friday, August 21, 2009 August 21: In various stages of sleep deprivation, we set out our baggage for transfer and by 6:20 had obediently boarded the buses waiting to take us to the airport. Bypassing normal airport security and screening procedures, we walked directly from the buses to a First Air 737 with a giant polar bear painted on the tail. The plane broke out of clouds over Hudson Strait, and gave us a great view of the strait, southern Baffin Island and Frobisher Bay. After refueling in Iqaluit we set off for the final 2-hour leg to Resolute, over interior Baffin, the shallow waters and low islands of Foxe Basin, and then into clouds from the forecast storm blowing in Resolute. Approaching the airstrip we caught a glimpse of our ship at anchor in the harbour, and then we were down on the gravel strip with a cloud of dust and rattle of stones. For first-timers, Resolute provides a harsh welcome to the Arctic: a panorama of barren gravel hills framing the junked buildings and abandoned machinery from half-a century of military and government construction, set off this morning by a biting north wind driving flurries of snow. The small bus and vans carrying us to the village jolted over gravel roads and delivered us to the South Camp Lodge, where hot coffee and heavy bannock revived us for a walk around the village and a visit to the nearby archaeological remains of an early Inuit village that was occupied between about AD 1200 and 1400. Several of the winter houses had been excavated and partially reconstructed, and we could picture families sheltering in small but warm and solid dwellings when it was 40 below outside with the drifting snow driven by blizzard winds. By 3 pm we were ready to board the ship by zodiac, ferrying from a shore littered with hunting canoes, komatik-sleds and staked sled dogs. In the afternoon we learned about the ship’s facilities and undertook the mandatory lifeboat drill before sitting to an excellent dinner followed by more information in preparation for tomorrow’s early zodiac cruise to the bird cliffs at Prince Leopold Island. By dinnertime we were in the middle of Lancaster Sound, riding a light swell from astern, and expecting to drop anchor by midnight. With the sky still light until midnight, most were in bed and being rocked asleep by the easy motion of the ship. It really has been a long day, but we have come an immense distance from the humid city heat of Ottawa to the clean winds sweeping across the first leg of the legendary Northwest Passage.

Day Three: Beechey Island Saturday, August 22 Up to a bright morning with sun breaking through high clouds, and the temperature 1°C (34°F). We were anchored off an island with high cliffs and buttresses of brown stone, and the ship was surrounded by wheeling kittiwakes. After breakfast we lined up to descend the gangway and climb into the zodiacs for a visit to the bird cliffs on Prince Leopold Island. The boats coasted down the rollers towards an ice-covered spit of land, then rounded the point into calmer waters and drifted along a set of high and vertical limestone cliffs. We soon began to encounter small black guillemots floating among the broken bits of blue sea ice washing along this shore, then a raft of tiny murre chicks that had recently dropped from their cliff-nests and were trying out their wings. Further along, a couple of large glaucous gulls were patrolling the beach for fallen chicks. The lower ledges of the cliffs were lined with murres, the late season remnants of a population estimated at 140,000 pairs. On the higher ledges were fulmars, glaucous gulls, and the white specks of kittiwakes. The air filled with the cries of birds wheeling around the cliff face, and the pungent odour of a half-million birds drifted to us on the wind. After an hour in the cold wind, we were happy to see that the captain had brought the ship around the island so that we had a short trip to its warmth of and comfort. Before lunch we received a gracious welcome to Nunavut from Bernadette Dean and Andrew Qappik, who made us aware that traditional Inuit ways continue in the contemporary society of the territory. Although life has changed immensely for most Inuit over the past couple of generations, the traditional values of being quiet, humble, skillful and welcoming are still basic to the lives of today’s communities. The welcome was followed by Mark Mallory’s lecture on Arctic seabirds, the nutrients that they deposit on the land adjacent to their nesting sites, and the contaminants originating from the industrial south that reach the Arctic through atmospheric transfers, and which are concentrated in the bodies and nesting sites of marine birds. During these lectures the ship was making its way northeastwards across Lancaster Sound towards our next stop at Beechey Island After lunch, and in his own uniquely absorbing fashion, Ted Cowan presented a summary of the Franklin expeditions and their social context. This provided an excellent background to the afternoon’s visit to the 1845-46 wintering site of Franklin’s last and lost expedition. By 4 PM the ship was in position off Beechey Island, and a short zodiac ride took us ashore where four weathered wooden headboards marked a line of stone-covered graves surrounded by the gravel surface of the dreariest island that can be imagined. For the next two hours we contemplated these bleak relics of 19th century Northwest Passage exploration, and walked a couple of kilometers to the south end of the island. Here the remains of Northumberland House, a stone and timber supply depot built by the search expeditions of the 1850s, is gradually falling apart and scattering its contents of barrel staves and tin cans along the adjacent beaches. On a terrace above the ruin lies a cross formed of tin cans filled with stones which was built by the Franklin searchers, a memorial to the men lost in these efforts, and a series of tacky and poorly cemented cairns raised during the past half century by friends of the territorial government, civil servants who were allowed to bury their remains in this historic locality. With this reminder of the eternity of human self-regard, we finished our visit and returned to the ship for dinner. In the evening the forward lounge was the scene of a marvelous concert by Marshall Dane, who swerved from country blues and rockabilly to evocative autobiographical ballads. Favourites were an early Beatles song reset as a walking blues, and a lyrical ukulele-chorded version of Over the Rainbow. Went to bed singing.

Day Four: Bellot Strait Sunday, August 23 Woke up to a smooth sea and foggy air, temperature rising to 4°C (40°F), and the ship steaming southward down Peel Sound. Spent the morning listening to Pierre Richard lecturing on his sea mammal research, and describing the marine animals that we might be fortunate to see in Nunavut waters. This was followed by an hour with Mike Beedell’s wonderful photographs illustrating his varied adventures across Arctic North America. By the end of the lectures the fog had lifted and through occasional snow flurries the shore of Somerset Island was clearly visible off the port side. After lunch Bob McGhee’s lecture dealt with the ingenious and just plain strange perceptions of the Arctic that have developed in the European imagination over the past centuries. At 4 pm we turned to port and entered Bellot Strait, the narrow that separates Somerset Island from the North American mainland. For the following two hours the ship wound its way through the strait, shouldering through a heavy current that in places produced tide rips and whirlpools swinging large chunks of ice in circles. Patches of sunlight fell on red and yellow-brown cliffs, wide valleys leading to vegetated uplands, and gigantic rock-gardens of unusual geology. Then the animals appeared. First a bear on a high hillside, then another swimming along the opposite shore, then two sleeping among the rocks above the coast. A narwhal surfaced just in front of the ship, and then several pods were sighted swimming among the ice-floes close to shore. A few seals, a small pod of beluga, an immense bowhead whale showing his flukes in diving beside the ship, and more bears completed the parade. The most memorable were probably a mother bear and two half-grown cubs, fat and healthy and seemingly ignoring the ship as they travelled on their journey along the most northerly tip of the North American continent. In late afternoon the ship rounded a point to reveal two weathered wooden buildings and a flagpole or radio mast, the remains of the Hudson’s Bay Company post at Fort Ross. This had been established in 1937 to take advantage of the local trade in white fox pelts, and abandoned eleven years later when ice conditions had proven too difficult to resupply the post by sea. Going ashore, we found that the dwelling house for the three traders was being slowly beaten down, with broken windows and doors that had been obviously used by the curious bears that had explored the house and dismantled much of the furniture. In contrast, the small store building was in good condition, and a recent renovation had supplied it with an ingenious bear-proof door. The interior contained shelves with a variety of canned goods, bunks, a table, and a visitors’ book that contained notes from fifteen years of travelers: cruise ships, government work crews, and Inuit travelers by snowmobile between Resolute and Taloyuak. Circles and rectangles of boulders on the beaches around the settlement showed where Inuit who had traded at the post had established their camps, and the area was littered with the empty tins and bottles of mid-twentieth century occupation. For the first time in this trip we were ashore in an area with vegetation, and found that most of the flowers had already gone and the leaves of the ankle-high willow trees had turned yellow. In the early evening, returning to the ship in calm water, the low sunlight broke through to transform the landscape into patches of brilliant colour. While eating dinner the ship began its return westward through the strait, and the last bears of the day—a mother and cub—were spotted to make a total of nineteen. An outstanding day for animal-observation, with a bit of historical colour added by the visit to Fort Ross.

Day Five: At Sea through the Ice Monday, August 24 During the night the ship had steamed southward through the ice, and by morning we were passing through a scattered field of last winter’s ice pans. Sunlight was barely visible through low fog, closing the horizon to a few hundred meters and creating a continuous fog-bow to the starboard side of the ship. A large bearded seal was soon spotted on a floe to starboard, showing no interest in our passage. Dave Reid’s lecture on narwhales explained some but not all of the mysteries about this fascinating beast, and Andrew Qappik demonstrated the basic elements of print-making as practiced in his community of Pangnirtung. The fog and occasional ice-pans continued during the afternoon, when we moved through the narrows of James Ross Strait. Caroline Mallory instructed us on the grasses, flowers and trees of Nunavut, followed by a lecture by Ted Cowan on the voyages of John Ross and his nephew James Clark Ross who spent three winters in the vicinity of our current location. In the evening Bernadette Dean showed her documentary titled Things that Belong to Inuit, which follows the travels of several Inuit elders to examine museum collections in Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Ottawa. A foggy sunset saw us still steaming slowly southward through our own small world of water and ice.

Day Six: Gjøa Haven Tuesday, August 25 By breakfast the ship was approaching the community of Gjoa Haven, gliding through a glassy calm, with the curtain of fog still closing us off from the outer world. A delegation of elders and youngsters came aboard to welcome us, and we followed them back ashore. The company wandered along the sandy roads between the rows of plywood houses and other buildings which make up the community, heading first for the arena where we were treated to a display of drum-dancing and traditional singing. Outside we tasted bannock freshly cooked over a wood fire, then visited the Heritage Centre (or Elders’ Museum) and the museum dedicated to Roald Amundsen’s wintering at this location during his first transit of the Northwest Passage. The fog cleared during the morning, brightening the colours of the village and producing a pleasant warmth for those wandering the community looking at the sights and comparing the price of groceries at the Co-op and Northern Stores with those paid in the south. The calm conditions allowed Bob Allan to launch his scale model of the St. Roch and it was much photographed climbing the zodiac-waves in the same location that its namesake passed through half a century earlier. In the afternoon and evening we steamed westward along the south coast of King William Island, then through the very narrow Simpson Strait. Here we encountered the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Wilfred Laurier, which seemed to be engaged in setting out channel buoys and repairing navigation markers on the shore. In this area we also noticed several coastal cabins, probably the outpost camps of people from Gjoa Haven. Aside from a glaucous gull and a single seal, we saw no animals, but in the still warm air we were fascinated by the mirage of floating islands. The evening was devoted to the showing of a video interview with Henry Larsen, skipper of the St. Roch, talking about his Northwest passages. In the late evening we steamed into a marvelously subtle, gradual, and very well photographed sunset.

Day Seven: Jenny Lind Island Wednesday, August 26 Woke up to the same calm sea and prospects of a bright day. We were ashore by 8 AM on Jenny Lind Island, a low gravel landscape with white lines of snow geese on interior ponds and feeding areas. For three hours we wandered in search of wildlife sightings, flowers and animal tracks. Saw two small herds of muskoxen (with calves, which is a hopeful sight), innumerable snow geese, loons and longtailed ducks, an Arctic fox that trotted along the beach sniffing everywhere for a mouthful, and many smaller birds. Also saw the tracks and diggings of a bear, probably a grizzly from the nearby mainland. There was a marvellous freedom in being able to wander through this open country of broad vistas and miniature gardens. On our return, Bernadette Dean presented a lecture titled “Surviving the Cultural Tsunami”, and described the “Somebody’s Daughter” program designed to pass on traditional sewing, self-awareness and survival skills to young Inuit women. The early afternoon was devoted to workshops on printmaking and photography, as the shores to north and south receded into the distance. In the late afternoon Mark Mallory talked about the miniaturization of satellite tracking equipment, and the resulting fascination research on the travels of Arctic bird populations during their migrations to and from more temperate regions. The warm calm evening provided an excellent setting for the Captain’s Dinner, hosted by Capt. Kenth Grankvist who was warmly applauded for carrying us with such care through the shoals and icefields of the past few days. Instead of adding to his collection of Canadian hockey jerseys acquired during previous trips, Cedar broke with tradition to present the captain with a jersey of the new Toronto Football Club. The evening ended with another session on the upper decks to watch the second spectacular sunset in two days, and an early bed for most of those who had walked around Jenny Lind Island in the morning.

Day Eight: Victoria Island Thursday, August 27 Another sunny morning with a temperature of 10°C (52°F), and the realization that we had left the High Arctic environment of Resolute and were now only 100 km or so north of the treeline. After breakfast we went ashore on the southern shore of Victoria Island at the mouth of the Nagyoktok River. Three old cabins marked a good landing beach, and a peregrine falcon greeted the first zodiac, herald of a promising day. Climbing the gradual hill behind the cabins we noticed a number of boulder rings, which Bob McGhee informed us were tent-rings marking visits to the area by local Inuit during the nineteenth century, and by Tunnit people four or five thousand years earlier. Two antler harpoons and a scatter of bones marked the Inuit camps, while the Tunnit occupants had scattered the site with flakes of orange quartzite that they had knocked from large boulders and used to make blades for their knives and weapons. It was a wonderful place for hunters to camp during the summer months, with wide views of the river valley to the north and the bay to the south, and a breeze to combat the mosquitoes. Climbing further up the ridge we saw a small herd of three caribou, a muskox which wandered down the river bank and a small herd at a distance across the river. The falcon did another fly-by, as did a yellow-billed loon, while a flock of tiny pipits flitted around the tundra. By 11 AM the sun had slid behind clouds and the north wind had picked up, encouraging us to return to the ship for lunch after an exhilarating walk through gentle landscapes. After lunch Bob McGhee talked about Inuit history, and Dave Reid about living in a northern town, followed by a premiere performance of the Underground Choir, which seems to specialize in the songs of Stan Rogers. After appropriate applause we retired to dinner, and an evening singalong led by Marshall Dane. Fog closed in during the evening, and again we were travelling through a small patch of grey water bounded on all sides by a foggy curtain, steaming westward for the Beaufort Sea.

Day Nine: Dolphin and Union Strait Friday, August 28 A warm (5°C (42°F) foggy morning with just enough swell to tell us that we had cleared Dolphin and Union Strait during the night and were now in Amundsen Gulf, the eastern portion of the Beaufort Sea. During breakfast we anchored off a grey barren coast and ferried ashore for a morning walk. The first attraction was a small iron ship that had floated ashore at some time in the last century and was now tethered to a huge boulder. The nameplate read Netchitok (?) and the home port St. John’s. It appears to have been a Newfoundland sealing ship or coastal freighter that had ended up far from its home waters, perhaps with an owner-skipper who used his knowledge of ice to make a living in the western Arctic. Just above the shore were a series of boulder caches, and two larger and more carefully constructed structures that appear to have been graves built about five centuries ago. Further up the shore, the edge of a gravel terrace carried the remains of a dozen scatters of stone slabs that marked the camp sites of some Tunnit groups that moved through the area several thousand years in the past. After a stroll up the long stairway of raised gravel beaches, and a descent on the backslope, we arrived at a small crystalline lake. Along the way we saw loons, a hawk, a caribou, the burrows of ground squirrels and the diggings of a grizzly bear excavating for these small game. We also noted a number of plants not seen during our more easterly stops, spiders and other miniature inhabitants of the tundra. At noon we returned to the ship as the fog crept in over the land and the easterly wind began to rise. A group of hardy (or foolhardy) polar swimmers assembled at the gangway and we had a total of 19 members of the swim team who braved the polar waters. They jumped in, and were back out almost as fast, some wondering what had prompted them to take the plunge in the first place. Each swimmer was honoured later with the coveted red glove and Polar Swim Team badge awards. The afternoon brought the furthest westerly point in our voyage, at 118 ° 22’ longitude and the border between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. The turnabout was celebrated with champagne on the foredeck, group photos, and a rendering of the Stan Rogers anthem “Northwest Passage.” Having found the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea, we set sail for Dolphin and Union Strait and a further exploration of Coronation Gulf. Carolyn Mallory’s afternoon lecture included fascinating insights on the survival strategies of Arctic plants, after which Mike Beedell presented his scenic tour of Canada with photos and music. Dinner was enlivened by the varied costumes relating in a wide variety of ways to the evening’s theme of “Exploration.” The prize went to Queen Victoria.

Day Ten: Coppermine River Saturday, August 29 That mountainous island in the distance, completely surrounded by glacier, and clearly visible from the deck of the Woke to a warmer morning than we have seen on the trip so far, the thermometer reading 13°C (58°F), and a flat calm with the sun shining through a shifting veil of cloud. Had an early breakfast while the ship anchored off the community of Kogluktok (formerly Coppermine), and then set off upriver by zodiac to Bloody Falls. This was the location where Dene warriors travelling with Samuel Hearne in 1771 massacred several families of Inuit living at a fishing camp at the falls. After an hour’s journey up the broad river we came to a set of riffles that were impassable for the boats, and we came ashore on the eastern bank. On the way upstream a pair of bald eagles displayed themselves from a mud cliff, a golden eagle and a raven did flyovers, and a ground squirrel displayed himself for those who had not yet encountered this prolific mammal of the Arctic mainland. We landed on a mudbank, climbed through waist-high willow forest to the flat tundra, and made our way for a kilometer upstream until we found a gulley descending to the falls. These are really a set of steep and impassable rapids about 200 m in length, along which most of us wandered lost in the thunder and movement of the racing water. A few climbed the adjacent gravel ridges which provided a view into the interior of the continent and halfway to the treeline. The tundra had transformed into its autumn colours of yellow willows and bright red birches, and the walk to and from the falls gave us our first experience of the soft continuous tundra vegetation of the mainland. After lunch Bob McGhee talked about John Franklin’s first and second expeditions, both of which involved the Coppermine River, and Dave Reid talked about polar bears and the research that has been done on them. A Hawaiian luau on the afterdeck was graced with calm and sunshine, an odd combination of Hawaiian and Caribbean cultural events, and a glorious rainbow to top it all off as we steamed eastward through Coronation Gulf.

Day Eleven: South Bathurst Inlet Sunday, August 30 When we awoke we were proceeding slowly southward through Bathurst Inlet, with glass-calm water and a temperature of 12°C (56°F). We passed the small community of Umingmaktok, and by noon had anchored off the mouth of the Burnside River and the adjacent Bathurst Inlet lodge. During the morning we had been entertained and instructed by Pierre Richard’s optimistic picture of sea mammal populations as revealed by recent research, and by Ted Cowan’s views on relationships between early British explorers and the Inuit whom they met. The latter lecture was interrupted (twice) by announcements of a wolf seen onshore, but the animal had disappeared (if it ever existed) before cameras reached the deck. After lunch we went ashore and spent the afternoon among the picturesque rock ridges of Bathurst Inlet. The tundra glowed in the grey light of a total calm, appearing as a gigantic Persian carpet intricately woven from strands of scarlet, brilliant yellow, rusts, oranges and browns. Several caribou were spotted, as well as a peregrine falcon and a golden eagle, but the focus of all eyes was the vegetation and the masses of crowberries, cranberries, bearberries and occasional blueberries that were hidden in its shelter. Returning onboard in the late afternoon, just as the sun streamed through the clouds, we steamed on glassy water through a confusing mass of oddly-shaped low mountains. The evening contest to write the most inspiring whisky-label was won by Danielle and David Clarke, whose description was a unique drink subtly blending elements of the tantalizing and the revolting, with a humorous aftertaste.

Day Twelve: North Bathurst Inlet Monday, August 31 We awoke to a wet-looking morning with the temperature at 10°C (52°F), a wind from the northwest, and a falling barometer. By breakfast we were steaming slowly into a bay on the northwestern shore of Bathurst Inlet, just south of the mouth of the Hood River. Before the anchor dropped we had spotted five grizzly bears on the shore—two lone males and a sow with two cubs. Mom took her cubs up and over the ridge at a run when she heard the rattle of the anchor chain, but the others ignored our presence. After a thorough scouting it was decided to take passengers ashore for a walk, and the group stayed noticeably more compact than on other days. Most climbed to the top of the second ridge where they got a view up the Hood River, the route taken by John Franklin’s party on their 1822 retreat from the coast. While the walkers were returning, the closest bear started to move in our direction, and continued as everyone bunched up near the beach to watch his progress. He finally sighted us when about 300 m away, stood up to see better, took a short panicky run towards us, then turned tail when Aaron Russ fired a flare in his direction. It was remarkably exhilarating to be so close to such a powerful and beautiful animal, and these last moments ashore were the highlights of many people’s ten days of exploration. Back aboard in the rain we lunched, listened to Cedar’s history of the Adventure Canada experience, and to an enlightening discussion of the trials and future prospects of Nunavut. By dinnertime we were out of the shelter of Bathurst Inlet and rolling slightly to the wind off the port bow. A final recap of our venture, a farewell dinner, and a variety show—which exposed an unexpected range of talents among the passengers, staff and crew—concluded the events of the day. As the ship rolled across Coronation Gulf we packed, said preliminary goodbyes, and began to accustom ourselves to the different world that tomorrow will bring.

A Tribute to Mike Beedell By Diana Tremain Who is this man of madness, Of the sky and sea and air? Wherever there are bones or scat, You’re sure to find him there. He’s as crazy as a coot Not even Mark can name this species. I questioned Mark - nay pestered him. Mark said, “He’s just uniquish!” I asked Pierre, connaisez - vous? Cet homme of land and sea? He shook his head and slowly said, “For sure, ‘e puzzles me!” I sought out blue-eyed Dave To provide some pure, hard facts, But those eyes and funny accent Nearly threw me off my tracks.

So I searched for Charles Darwin In some fine and quiet place. Huddled over his computer Digging up the human race. Bob said, “You mean the one who plunged into the sea And shrank beyond compare? You will never, ever label him, He’s incomparably rare.” Mike’s a man of many talents. He really is a star. He’ll even give you back rubs If you hang out at the bar. I cannot pin you down Mike (Although I’d like to try). And so to Mike and everyone I say thankyou - and just hope it’s not goodbye. DIANA TREMAIN

Day Thirteen: Cambridge Bay Tuesday, September 1 Up early in order to get packed by 7 AM, finding a choppy sea and rain lashed by a 55 knot wind. The shores of Cambridge Bay gradually emerged, with all the marks of a reasonably large Arctic settlement. After a tug juggled a barge into place beside the pier so that Clipper Adventurer would have enough water to pull in alongside, we disembarked to a muddy street and a string of vehicles which took us to a few shopping locations before making the trip to the airport. Rumours of a cancelled flight due to high winds proved to be false, but a malfunctioning toilet required a detour to Yellowknife where it could be fixed. Flying south over the Barren Grounds the clouds cleared, and we quickly traced Franklin’s retreat from the Arctic coast to the forest in the autumn of 1822. Descending to Yellowknife we skimmed a country of lakes, rocks and small spruce trees, in sunshine that promised a warmth that we haven’t seen in the past ten days. After refueling, and dropping Bernadette Dean to find a flight to her home in Rankin Inlet, we took off for our evening arrival in Ottawa. The sudden darkness of the southern night shocked us after ten days of twilight, and brought the sudden realization that we had entered a different world.

© Robert McGhee

Plant List List of plants that we saw during our trip through the Northwest Passage. Of course it’s not exhaustive because too little time was spent at each location, but it should give you a good idea. If you have a photo of a plant that you cannot identify, I would be happy to help – [email protected] August 22 – Beechey Island Cerastium arcticum – Arctic mouse-ear chickweed Cerastium regelii – Regel’s mouse-ear chickweed Salix arctica – Arctic willow Papaver sp. - Arctic poppy Dryas integrifolia – Mountain avens Stellaria longipes – Long-stalked starwort Saxifraga oppositifolia – Purple saxifrage Saxifraga cespitosa – Cespitose saxifrage Saxifraga cernua – Nodding saxifrage Silene uralensis – Nodding bladder campion Draba sp. - Mustard plant Festuca brachyphylla – Alpine fescue August 23 – Fort Ross Saxifraga hirculus – Yellow marsh saxifrage Pedicularis hirsuta – Hairy lousewort Alopecurus magellanicus – Fox-tail grass Luzula confusa – Northern wood-rush Bistorta vivipara – Bistort Stellaria humifusa – Salt-marsh starwort Cochlearia groenlandica – Scurvy-grass Saxifraga tricuspidata – Prickly saxifrage Micranthes nivalis – Snow saxifrage Chrysosplenium tetandrum – Bird’s nest saxifrage Draba sp. - Mustard plant Festuca brachyphylla – Alpine fescue Saxifraga cernua – Nodding saxifrage Silene uralensis – Nodding bladder campion Saxifraga oppositifolia – Purple saxifrage Saxifraga cespitosa – Cespitose saxifrage Cerastium arcticum – Arctic mouse-ear chickweed Salix arctica – Arctic willow Papaver sp. - Arctic poppy Chamerion latifolium – Dwarf fireweed Casiope tetragona – White mountain heather Carex maritima – Maritime sedge August 25th – Gjoa Haven Eriophorum scheuchzeri – Arctic cotton grass (single-headed) Tripleurospermum maritimum – Seaside chamomile Salix arctica – Arctic willow

Papaver sp. - Arctic poppy Chamerion latifolium – Dwarf fireweed Festuca brachyphylla – Alpine fescue Festuca viviparoidea – Viviparous fescue Saxifraga cernua – Nodding saxifrage Draba sp. - Mustard plant Alopecurus magellanicus – Fox-tail grass Stellaria humifusa – Salt-marsh starwort Poa arctica – Arctic bluegrass Leymus mollis – Sea-lyme grass Oxyria digyna – Mountain sorrel Descurainia sophioides – Tansy mustard Honkenya peploides – Sea-beach sandwort Dryas integrifolia – Mountain avens Dupontia fisheri – Fisher’s tundra grass Taraxacum sp. - Dandelion Arabidopsis arenicola – Arctic rockcress Draba glabella – Smooth witlow-grass Puccinellia phryganodes – Goose grass August 26th – Jenny Lind Island Potentilla pulchella – Branching cinquefoil Dryas integrifolia – Mountain avens Leymus mollis – Sea-lyme grass Oxyria digyna – Mountain sorrel Tripleurospermum maritimum – Seaside chamomile Armeria scabra – Arctic thrift Salix arctica – Arctic willow Salix reticulata – Reticulated willow Salix polaris – Polar willow Pedicularis hirsuta – Hairy lousewort Tephroseris palustris subsp. congesta – Mastadon flower Hulteniella integrifolia – Arctic daisy Silene acaulis – Moss campion August 27th – Richardson Islands Potentilla pulchella – Branching cinquefoil Dryas integrifolia – Mountain avens Leymus mollis – Sea-lyme grass Oxyria digyna – Mountain sorrel Gentian sp. Tripleurospermum maritimum – Seaside chamomile Armeria scabra – Arctic thrift

Salix arctica – Arctic willow Salix reticulata – Reticulated willow Pedicularis lanata – Woolly lousewort Hulteniella integrifolia – Arctic daisy Silene acaulis – Moss campion Vaccinium uliginosum - Blueberry Vaccinium vitas-idaea – Mountain cranberry Carex scirpoidea – Scirpus sedge Hierochloe alpina – Holy grass Festuca – fescue sp. Cerastium arcticum – Arctic mouse-ear chickweed Stellaria longipes – Long-stalked starwort Ranunculus sp. - Buttercup Castilleja elegans – Northern paintbrush Rhododendron lapponicum – Lapland rosebay Rododendron tomentosum – Labardor tea Betula glandulosa – Ground birch Salix Richardsonii – Richardson’s willow Oxytropis arctica – Arctic oxytrope Tofieldia coccinea – Northern tofieldia Tofieldia pusilla – False asphodel Androsace septentrionalis – Fairy candelabra Antennaria friesiana – Fries’ pussytoes Arctous alpina – Bearberry Artemisia borealis subsp. Richardsoniana – Wormwood Astragalus alpina – Alpine milk-vetch Carex saxatilis – Russet sedge Cassiope tetragona – White mountain heather Chamerion latifolium – Dwarf fireweed Erigeron compositus – Cutleaf fleabane Eriophorum angustifolium – Multi-headed cottongrass Eriophorum vaginatum – Single-headed cottongrass Honckenya peploides – Sea-beach sandwort Luzula confusa – Northern woodrush Papaver sp. - Arctic poppy Pedicularis lanata – Woolly lousewort Bistorta vivipara – Alpine bistort Plantago canescens – Plantain Poa arctica – Arctic bluegrass Saxifraga cernua – Nodding saxifrage Saxifraga tricuspidata – Prickly saxifrage Silene involucrata – Bladder campion Taraxacum sp. - Dandelion Oxytropis arctobia – Pea Androsace chamaejasme - Rock jasmine

August 28, 2009 – Clifton Point Chamerion latifolium – Dwarf fireweed Saxifraga tricuspidata – Prickly saxifrage Saxifraga aizoides – Yellow mountain saxifrage Rhododendron tomentosum – Labrador tea Saxifraga oppositifolia – Purple saxifrage Mountain avens – Dryas integrifolia Pinguicula vulgaris - Butterwort Arnica angustifolia – Alpine arnica Erysimum palasii – Arctic wallflower Silene uralensis – Nodding campion Pedicularis sp. - Lousewort Potentilla sp. - Cinquefoil Hulteniella integrifolia – Arctic daisy Cassiope tetragona – White mountain heather Androsace chamaejasme – Rock jasmine Silene acaulis – Moss campion Salix sp. - Willow Tephrostis frigida – Daisy family Oxytropis arctobia - Pea Eriophorum angustifolium – Multi-headed cottongrass Carex aquatilis – Aquatic sedge Ranunculus pygmaeus – Pygmy buttercup Draba corymbosa – Flattop whitlowgrass Anemone parviflora – Northern white anemone Bistorta vivipara – Alpine bistort Oxyria dygina – Mountain sorrel Erigeron humilus – Low fleabane Erigeron uniflorus – One flower fleabane Potentilla arenosa - Cinquefoil Pedicularis lanata – Woolly lousewort Micranthes nivalis – Snow saxifrage Festuca brachyphylla – Alpine fescue Poa arctica – Arctic bluegrass Saxifraga cespitosa – Tufted saxifrage August 29 – Coppermine River Salix niphoclada – Barren-ground willow Artemisia tilesii - Wormwood Lupinus arcticus – Arctic lupin Betula glandulosa – Dwarf birch Petasites frigidus – Sweet coltsfoot Parnassia kotzebuei - Grass of parnassus Pyrola sp. - Wintergreen Rumex arcticus – Arctic dock

Equisetum arvense - Horsetail Papaver sp. - Arctic poppy Vaccinium uliginosum – Blueberries Betula glandulosa – Dwarf birch Cassiope tetragona – White mountain heather Empetrum nigrum – Crowberry Pedicularis lapponica – Lapland lousewort Shepherdia canadensis - Soapberry Chamerion latifolium – Dwarf fireweed Arctous rubra – Red bearberry Andromeda polifolia – Bog rosemary Rhododendron lapponicum – Lapland rosebay Salix reticulata – Reticulated willow Arnica angustifolia – Alpine arnica Fern sp. Astragalus alpinus – Alpine milk-vetch Castilleja elegans – Northern paintbrush Potentilla fructicosa – Shrubby potentilla Ranunculus sp. - Buttercup August 30 – Bathurst Inlet Empetrum nigrum – Crowberry Lupinus arcticus – Arctic lupin Alnus crispa – Green alder Equisetum arvense – Horsetail Comarum palustre – Marsh cinquefoil Artemisia tilesii - Wormwood Salix arctica – Arctic willow Andromeda polifolia – Bog rosemary Achillea millefolium – Yarrow Salix – Willow sp. Vaccinium vitis-ideae – Mountain cranberry Saxifraga tricuspidata – Prickly saxifrage Betula glandulosa – Dwarf birch Vaccinium uliginosum – Blueberries Rhododendron tomentosum – Labrador tea Arctous alpina – Alpine bearberry Chamerion latifolium – Dwarf fireweed Eriophorum brachyantherum – Close-sheathed cottongrass Cassiope tetragona – White mountain heather Rhododendron lapponicum – Lapland rosebay Tofieldia pusilla – False asphodel Petasites frigidus – Sweet coltsfoot Luzula confusa – Northern woodrush Dryopteris fragrans – Fragrant wood fern Dryas integrifolia – Mountain avens Elymus mollis – Sea-lyme grass Rubus chamaemorus – Cloudberry

August 31 – Horn River Lathyrus japonicus – Beach pea Hedysarum americanum – Alpine sweet-vetch Lupinus arcticus – Arctic lupin Mertensia maritima – Seaside bluebells Betula glandulosa – Dwarf birch Salix sp. - Willow Cassiope tetragona – White mountain heather Vaccinium uliginosum - Blueberries Rhododendron lapponica – Lapland rosebay Dryas integrifolia – Mountain avens Rhododendron tomentosum – Labrador tea Equisetum arvense – Horsetail Petasites frigidus – Sweet coltsfoot Saxifraga tricuspidata – Prickly saxifrage Arctous rubra – Red bearberry

Gavia stellata Gavia pacifica Gavia sp. Gavia immer Fulmarus glacialis Puffinus gravis Puffinus griseus Phalacrocorax carbo Cygnus columbianus Anser albifrons Chen caerulescens Branta canadensis Branta bernicla Anas platyrhynchos Aythya marila Somateria mollissima Somateria spectabilis Clangula hyemalis Mergus serrator Haliaeetus albicilla Buteo lagopus

Red-throated Loon Pacific Loon Yellow-billed Loon Common Loon Northern Fulmar Greater Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Great Cormorant Tundra Swan Greater White-fronted Goose Snow Goose Canada Goose Brant Mallard Greater Scaup Common Eider King Eider Long-tailed Duck Red-breasted Merganser White-tailed Eagle Rough-legged Hawk Bald Eagle Golden Eagle Gyrfalcon Peregrine Falcon Rock Ptarmigan Common Ringed Plover Semipalmated Plover Ruddy Turnstone Red Knot Sanderling Semipalmated Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Purple Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Falco rusticolus Falco peregrinus Lagopus mutus Charadrius hiaticula Charadrius semipalmatus Arenaria interpres Calidris canutus Calidris alba Calidris pusilla Calidris fuscicollis Calidris bairdii Calidris melanotos Calidris alpina Calidris maritima Tryngites subruficollis

Latin Name

BIRD SPECIES

Common Name

Seen/ heard

Y

Y

21-Aug

Day 1

Y

22-Aug

Day 2

Day 4 24-Aug

Page 1 of 4

Y

Y

Y

23-Aug

Day 3

Day 6

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

26-Aug

Y

Y

Y

Y

25-Aug

Day 5

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

27-Aug

Day 7

2009 Out of the Northwest Passage Wildlife Checklist

Day 8

Y

Y

28-Aug

Day 9

Y

Y

Y

29-Aug

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

30-Aug

Day 10

Y

Y

31-Aug

Day 11

01-Sep

Day 12

Phalaropus lobatus Phalaropus fulicarius

Red-necked Phalarope Red Phalarope American Golden Plover Great Skua Pomarine Jaeger Parasitic Jaeger Long-tailed Jaeger Great Black-backed Gull Glaucous Gull Herring Gull Iceland Gull Thayer's Gull American Herring Gull Ivory Gull Sabine's Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Arctic Tern Dovekie Thick-billed Murre Black Guillemot Atlantic Puffin Horned Lark American Pipit Northern Wheatear Common Raven Savannah Sparrow Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Common Redpoll Hoary Redpoll

Stercorarius skua Stercorarius pomarinus Stercorarius parasiticus Stercorarius longicaudus Larus marinus Larus hyperboreus Larus argentatus Larus glaucoides Larus thayeri Larus smithsonianus Pagophila eburnea Xema sabini Rissa tridactyla Sterna paradisaea Alle alle Uria lomvia Cepphus grylle Fratercula arctica Eremophila alpestris Anthus rubescens Oenanthe oenanthe Corvus corax Passerculus sandwichensis Calcarius lapponicus Plectrophenax nivalis Carduelis flammea Carduelis hornemanni

Latin Name

BIRD SPECIES

Common Name

Seen/ heard

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

21-Aug

Day 1

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

22-Aug

Day 2

Y

Y

23-Aug

Day 3

Y

24-Aug

Day 4

Day 6

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y Y

Day 7 27-Aug

Y

Y

Y

Y

26-Aug

Y

Y

Y

Y

25-Aug

Day 5

2009 Out of the Northwest Passage Wildlife Checklist

Day 8

Y

Y

28-Aug

Day 9

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

29-Aug

Y

Y

Y

30-Aug

Day 10

Y

Y

31-Aug

Day 11

01-Sep

Day 12

MAMMALS

Latin Name

BIRD SPECIES

Polar Bear Bearded Seal Harp Seal Ringed Seal Walrus Narwhal Beluga Bowhead Whale Arctic Fox Arctic Hare Wolverine Grizzly Bear Collared Lemming Brown Lemming Arctic Ground Squirrel Barren Ground Caribou Muskoxen Tundra wolf

Common Name

Day 1 Day 2 22-Aug

Day 1

21-Aug

21-Aug

Seen/ heard

23-Aug

Day 3

22-Aug

Day 2

1

12

~40

many

19

24-Aug

Day 4

23-Aug

Day 3

many

1

25-Aug

Day 5

24-Aug

Day 4

burrows

many

26-Aug

Day 6

25-Aug

Day 5

25

burrows

many

27-Aug

Day 7

26-Aug

Day 6

Day 8

1

3 1

burrows

many

29-Aug

Day 9

28-Aug

burrows

1

many

28-Aug

Day 8

27-Aug

Day 7

2009 Out of the Northwest Passage Wildlife Checklist

Day 9

burrows

1

many

30-Aug

Day 10

29-Aug

1

3

~10

burrows

many

31-Aug

Day 11

30-Aug

Day 10

burrows

5

1

01-Sep

Day 12

31-Aug

Day 11

Stan Rogers Northwest Passage Lyrics: Chorus Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea; Tracing one warm line through a land so wide and savage And make a Northwest Passage to the sea. Westward from the Davis Strait ‘tis there ‘twas said to lie The sea route to the Orient for which so many died; Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered, broken bones And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones. Three centuries thereafter, I take passage overland In the footsteps of brave Kelsey, where his “sea of flowers“ began Watching cities rise before me, then behind me sink again This tardiest explorer, driving hard across the plain. And through the night, behind the wheel, the mileage clicking west I think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest Who cracked the mountain ramparts and did show a path for me To race the roaring Fraser to the sea. How then am I so different from the first men through this way? Like them, I left a settled life, I threw it all away. To seek a Northwest Passage at the call of many men To find there but the road back home again. Lyrics: Northwest Passage, Stan Rogers

A photo collection by Mike Beedell which includes over 200 photos is also available. Please contact the Adventure Canada office if you would like to order.

Adventure Canada • 14 Front St. S • Mississauga, ON, L5H 2C4 Tel: 905-271-4000 • 1-800-363-7566 • www.adventurecanada.com • [email protected]