Nfld & Labrador - Eclipse, Martin's Bay and Killiniq

 We had our first polar bear sighting the day we were at Nachvach Fjord.  I forgot to post the photos in the last post so here they are - two bears in one day on top of seeing the Nachvach.  It was an overwhelming experience.  The bears were quite far away and it took a lot of pointing and describing for my lens to find it.  The first sighting was on a black rocky shore.  The second bear looked a little mangy and it decided to go to sleep after it got tired of staring at us.

Our next stop is Eclipse Sound - a rugged, rocky canyon with a stepped waterfall at the end.  We hiked on the rocky top of the canyon to see the beautiful waterfall at the end.  When we returned from the hike, the zodiacs took us right into the canyon  to get a closer view of the lower falls.  Some of the hollow caverns along the side of the canyon made for excellent acoustics and the ship musicians gave us another concert in nature's theatre.  

View of Eclipse Canyon from the top

and from below

The lower falls

The upper falls with its beautiful S curve

Purple mountain heather

Velvet bells

The rocky top

Looking seaward from the canyon

Amazing rock formation on the canyon walls

Natural caves on the canyon walls make for great acoustics

Concert by the canyon caves

The following day was the first time we were unable to do anything because of weather, in this case, fog.  We could not land at Martin's Bay and so some brave souls on board did their polar dip.  Quite a spectacle for the audience but it was cold and windy - it was tough even watching, never mind dipping.  

We did ended up going out on a zodiac cruise after dinner to get a taste of the mist and get some misty shots.  We were once again treated to another concert by Adam Ruzzo whose nice tenor voice warmed us in the cold night.  The expedition team tried so hard to make it up, that in itself is heartwarming.

We were lucky the fog only lasted one day and we were able to land on Killiniq, the second last stop on our cruise.  Killiniq island, at the northernmost tip of Labrador at the entrance of the Hudson Strait, has the unique status of being the only land border between Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador.  The provincial boundary crosses the island, with the eastern section in Newfoundland and Labrador and the western section part of Nunavut.  

While we were on a cruise around the island before the hike, I saw what looked like a hawk with a prey in its claws.  As usual I don't have the right lens with me and so the photo was not too sharp.  The island itself is not particularly spectacular but makes for a good hike among the rocks.  There were a lot of debris from the community that was there before evacuation by the government of the Northwest Territories.  The only thing left there was an automated remote radio transmitter for the Iqaluit coast guard.  

Hawk with what looked like a vole

Looking down at the bay from the top

Looking up from the landing

Next post:  our last stop on the cruise before disembarkation