My 8th Solar Eclipse -

My First Partial Eclipse -

My First continent on the chase

I am lucky to have a friend who runs polar expeditions. In the spring of 2000 when we realized that one of his Russian ships, the Luybov Orlova, would be full of passengers in the path of a partial eclipse while on an expedition through the Northwest Passage, he offered me a position as one of the ship’s lecturers and added the event to the itinerary.

We flew from Ottawa, the capital of Canada, to Iqaluit, the capital of our new province of Nunavut in the north. We boarded the Orlova in Sondre Stromfjord on the western coast of Greenland. From here we followed the Northwest Passage up the coast, visiting Inuit villages for a week. Then we crossed Baffin Bay and anchored at the tiny Arctic community of Pond Inlet.

We saw the eclipse from the little bay next to Pond Inlet called Eclipse Sound !

(map copyright 2002 Athropolis Productions Ltd.)

This was my first experience with ice bergs and I instantly fell in love with them. Their sleepy majesty offered all the Arctic character I could hope for and were the source of hours of amazement on deck.

Sailing up the western coast of Greenland.

The landscape above the tree line is barren and beautiful. It’s amazing to think that after millions of years creatures still survive and thrive here. We spotted polar bears, whales, seals and thousands of birds as we sailed the frigid Arctic seas.

Cruising through the brash ice near Devon Island.

While you can’t properly make them out in this picture of Prince Leopold Island below, this fascinating and lonely island is home to tens of thousands of birds. They were quite a sight to see as we motored along the coast in our zodiacs.

Prince Leopold Island - like something out of “Lord Of The Rings!”