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July 3rd - July 9th, 2007

My traveling colleague and I overnighted in Ottawa the day prior to our journey north to Igloolik, via Nunavut's capital city of Iqaluit. In Ottawa we stayed downtown at the beautiful and historic Lord Elgin hotel. From there we were easily able to walk through the Rideau Mall to Parliment Hill and on to the National Gallery of Canada which hosts an inspiring permanent Inuit art exhibit. Also worth exploring (although we ran out of time and weren't able to do so) is the Canadian Museum of Civilization across the Ottawa River in Hull, Quebec.

The next morning we began a travel day that had us in Igloolik by 15:30 and out to Igloolik Point to settle in, have a hearty supper and take an evening hike to explore the immediate area and photograph birds like red throated phalarope, Arctic terns and long tail ducks. On the trip we also spotted Eider ducks, Thayer's gull, Sabine's gull, golden plovers, ... on our trip, 24 species in all were positively identified.

That evening a fog set and lifted the next day in time for us to have a half-day exploring the waters north of the Point where bowhead whales linger near the edge of the sea ice.

The next four days we were on the water, splitting days between bowhead whales about 45 minutes away from our camp and walrus on the ice floes about two and a half hours boat ride away.

We were very fortunate to have perfect weather every day of our trip. Our group considered ourselves very fortunate to be in the right place in the right time.

Highlights of the trip were bowhead whales approaching to investigate our idle boat, spy hopping, fluking and even mating (later confirmed with photographic evidence by a Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans researcher also stationed at Igloolik Point) all within 50 meters of our vessel. Even though it is difficult to capture photographs of whales, it truly was an incredible experience.

Amongst the ice floes of the Foxe Basin, we searched for - and located - groups of walrus. The perfect light and non-existent wind conditions set the stage for an amazing couple days of walrus photography. First we encountered the largest bull of the trip floating on a small ice floe in the middle of the open sea. As the evening progressed and the sun sank in the west, a haze approached from the the east resulting in it being difficult to identify the horizon; the sea eventually became the sky. All the while, the walrus was bathed in sharp sunlight that crept towards the horizon but never quite got there. It was pretty cool. Other walrus we encountered included moms with calves and larger groups both swimming and relaxing on ice floes.

A true surprise on our trip was spotting a polar bear swimming towards a group of walrus. We were lucky enough to photograph this polar bear in the water, climbing up upon and jumping off of ice floes. It happened so quickly I was literally shaking with excitement praying I had my act together enough to compose and capture usable images!

To learn about our program to the Foxe Basin based out of Igloolik Point, click here.

Interestingly, where we were in the Foxe Basin was one of the prime shooting locations for Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson's "Arctic Tale" film starring Nanu the polar bear and Seela the walrus, released by National Geographic Films and Paramount Pictures. Check out Adam and Sarah's website, here.