Travels with rarecat: Nfld & Labrador

Sunday, 10 November 2024

Nfld & Labrador - Resolution Island

Our last day on the expedition was spent on Resolution Island, off the coast of Baffin Island in the Davis Strait - we are almost at Iqaluit, our final disembarkation point. Resolution Island reminded me of a medieval fortress with its rugged seawalls, rocky ramps and narrow passages between the rock walls. Its many stunning rockscapes made for a suitable end to our journey along this rocky part of Canada with so much geological history. My only regret was that geologist Dr. Marc St. Onge who was on our Northwest Passage trip was not with us - he would have explained all the 400 billion years of geological history and related it to all the rocks we saw on this trip. I also only brought a birding lens on shore with me so had to rely on my faithful phone for most of the photos, even though it seemed to have done a good job regardless.

Our landing site on the island

On the castle watch

Passage through the fortress

See the pattern? Isolated boulders everywhere - my guess is glaciation

A closeup look at the beautiful coloured rocks on this island...and what caused this striated pattern below? Dr. Marc, where are you?

Believe it or not, that white patch near the top of this island is actually a polar bear sleeping - the only time I found the long lens useful on this hike! And to capture this group of Northern Eiders offshore.

Before we went back on board, we were taken on a cruise to see the huge iceberg off the shore. It is amazing how different the same iceberg could look from different sides. We got very close to the iceberg in our zodiac, maybe too close. We would have been in the water if it had flipped.

We set sail from the island and I was lingering on deck treasuring the last moments. Was happy to catch many Northern Fulmars looking for their evening meal