It was foggy with a high probability of polar bears the morning we anchored off desolate Beechey Island and held our breath waiting to hear whether it was safe to go to shore. The tension mounted over breakfast for those who had sailed from Greenland to Nunavut with the dream of seeing the place where Sir John Franklin’s doomed Northwest Passage expedition spent the winter of
As the M/V Ocean Endeavour pushed cautiously through a challenging patch of sea ice on route to clearing customs in Resolute, a couple of harp seals frolicked in the water of Lancaster Sound just off the ship’s bow. Their heads popped straight up so they could playfully stare us down for a few seconds before disappearing briefly and then bobbing to the surface in a