Expedition Update: Digges Island & Erik Cove
Aug. 7 - Day 6

The famous bird cliffs at Digges Island certainly lived up to their reputation today. The team cruised along the base of these magnificent cliffs, while literally millions of murres flew through the sky, dove into the sea, and settled on nests. After meeting with the IPY researchers at Coats Island yesterday about the murres, the visit was all the more interesting.

In the afternoon, the team landed at Erik Cove where they visited the abandoned community of Wolstenholme - what was once a bustling Hudson's Bay trading post, is now a place of deserted buildings and a cemetary. This place was particularly resonant for two of our participants, Mary Simon's mother was born here and it was the first time that she had visited the old community in the company of her grandson, Jordan, who's also participating on the trip.

Later, the team branched out into the tundra for an epic hike, across hills, through a river valley, where they saw millions of Arctic flowers. After reaching the beach, where the zodiacs were waiting to take them back to the ship, the team hunkered down on the rocks to listen to educator Steven Price discuss Arctic conservation issues and youth activism. After such a spectacular day - the messages really hit home.

Participant Journals!

From: Omar Beg

Wow! What a day! After yesterday’s stop at Walrus Island (where we saw burping and farting walruses and even a Polar Bear with her cub!) and at Coats Island (where we saw Arctic Mures and I chased an Arctic Fox up the cliff to get its photo which didn’t really turn out well) I thought I had seen it all! But no sir, the Arctic continues to surprise me! Today we visited the Digges Island bird cliffs and later in the afternoon we went to Erik Cove. My God! What a magnificent place it is! As soon as we got off our Zodiacs my friend C From: Omar Beg

Wow! What a day! After yesterday’s stop at Walrus Island (where we saw burping and farting walruses and even a Polar Bear with her cub!) and at Coats Island (where we saw Arctic Mures and I chased an Arctic Fox up the cliff to get its photo which didn’t really turn out well) I thought I had seen it all! But no sir, the Arctic continues to surprise me! Today we visited the Digges Island bird cliffs and later in the afternoon we went to Erik Cove. My God! What a magnificent place it is! As soon as we got off our Zodiacs my friend Colleen and I went climbing up a rocky hill but as we got to the top Geoff called us back to the beach and we attended Steven’s lecture there!
And now as we have got back we are having cookies and coffee for the snack time!

PS - Mom & Dad if you couldn’t get my earlier message I couldn’t call as I was tight on schedule and the ship only allows phone calls for emergencies.

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From: JP Renaud

This has been one of the best days so far, I think. We stopped in at Coats Island for zodiac cruises, and it was incredible. The sheer amount of birds there is unreal; I think they said that there’s over a million of them. We also stopped in at Erik cove, where we were met by sheer cliffs and small rivers. It was fun hiking up the cliffs, and the view from up there was great! We will be sailing east through the night.

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From: John Park

Every day, I’ve had difficulty trying to write journals because I simply had not the courage to dare putting the feelings into words. Every day, no, every minute, there is a fresh surprise, and we are living in an ocean of things that only seem to happen in movies and dreams. When the Orca whales appeared in the middle of the ocean, with the perfectly still water and amazingly beautiful sky sitting there as in the most spectacular painting, we were simply speechless. When we approached the Walrus Island and saw the polar bear and her cub, and they saw us, it was the most profound and unforgettable moment of some of our lives (also the walruses in the HUNDREDS). I never felt such a connection with nature as when I held the wild baby falcon in my hands. Even the experts and world-renown scientists on our team are saying that we are extremely lucky to see these wonderfully rare animals (the Orca whales apparently don’t even live in the middle of Hudson Bay!). I have been stuck on this paragraph for over 20 minutes now, trying to express my feelings, for lack of a better term, and I still can’t do it.

Today, we went on the zodiacs to cruise to/along the bird cliffs on the northwestern tip of Nunavik. The cliffs were so strikingly grand, and awesome. But the bird population of this island was another thing. There were literally millions of birds, some of them soaring in the skies so gracefully and some resting in the cracks on the cliffs. Together they made the most beautiful, natural, and pure music that echoed against the tall cliffs. That’s one of the main things that make this region so different from the many commercial tourism sights in the world – it’s pure. Everything is untouched. The birds, the mammals, the plants rule the skies, the waters, and the lands. It makes one humble. After Digges Island, we made our first landing of the day on Erik Cove. Here, we could really feel the peace of nature. The sunlight reflected off the rocks of the hills and provided us with the most serene illumination, and the patches of green suggested life and perfect composure. We also saw our first snow and ice here today. I was greatly impressed and inspired by this place. When I looked up, I saw the most naturally pure, and beautiful scene I had ever seen (I also saw a wild caribou). But when I looked down beside my feet, I could find so much evidence of life on the land that looked so barren. I saw so many Arctic flowers, some cotton grasses, mosses, lichens, and more, with the help of Lynn, the Arctic flora scientist; I saw bones lying around, and also got to pick up a huge Beluga whale skull; I saw footprints of Arctic fox and caribou; the water trickling into the ocean carried life so secretly yet profoundly. I was simply amazed, and that’s all I can say.

To my family, and to Liz and Kat who might be reading this back in Toronto – I am having one of, no, THE MOST memorable and beautiful experience of my life. I hope you are all doing well, and keeping healthy. I have so many pictures, and videos to show, and stories to tell you! Everyday, I am thrilled by what surprise that awaits me the next day. I got seasick once and got about 50 mosquito bites on one of the islands, but it’s all so much more than just worth it. There is something about these lands (and ocean) that tells me I’m going to come back. I’ve never had such a connection with nature. I’m not sure if I want to leave this place.

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From: Connor Jessup

Every day that I have on this expedition seems to be better than the previous one. Today was no exception! Through the night we traveled from Coats Island across Hudson Bay and into Hudson Straight to arrive on time to Digges Island and the Northwestern tip of Quebec. If you remember how I talked about the amazing bird cliffs at Coats Island yesterday, that was NOTHING compared to what I saw today. The entire coast of Quebec was lined with cliffs that stretched as far as the eye could see. Yesterday I said I saw 100 000 + Thick-billed Murres (penguin like birds) today I saw a 1 000 000 +++, it was impossible to look ANYWHERE without seeing at least a dozen birds that were either flying, swimming or simply perching on their rocky home. I am told that this is one of the largest colonies in the world. It was truly and absolutely breathtaking. After a lecture on Arctic Flora the SOI (Students On Ice) team decided to make an impromptu landing in a bay on the Quebec shore that used to host a Inuit community until they were forced to relocate. The bay was amazing. I have never seen such a picture book scene in my entire life. A quiet meandering river, grassy cliffs and u-shaped/glacier made valleys. There were large deposits of leftover snow on the hillsides. I even saw a family of Caribou grazing in the fields. The most impressive part was that the entire landscape showed no sign human occupation except for a lone Inuit graveyard near the river. Speaking of the river, I have never seen river water that is so clean and clear instead of the usual murky green you find in and around cities and towns. It was perfect. A deep calm came over my mind. I could have spent a week there. Unfortunately we don’t have time to spare. Everyone enjoyed it so much that we decided to do our lecture on Conservation in the bay instead of on the ship. After that we (regretfully) left the picturesque little bay. We spent the rest of the afternoon listening to lectures (The Making of an Activist) and participating in workshops (The journey for the North-West Passage). Another full, educational and EXTREMELY fun day for the books.

P.S. The list of NEW animals I have seen over the past 4 days:

Beluga Whales (Churchill River)
Orca Whales (Hudson Bay)
Polar Bear (Walrus Island)
Walrus (Walrus Island)
Seal (Churchill River)
Caribou (Quebec Coast)
Thick-Billed Murres (Coats Island, Digges Island & Quebec Coast)
Various other bird species