We saw our first signs of broken sea ice this morning; the weather was chillier.
Today we came nose to nose with our Hurtigruten sister ship, the MS Fridtjof Nansen. Like our ship, it’s a hybrid expedition ship designed for polar regions. They are not icebreakers but have a PC6 ice-class designation and can push through first year sea ice up to four feet thick.
First, from a distance
And closer
Until nearly touching
A friendly competition (prompted by ship staff) ensued as to the largest and loudest crowds on the front decks.
Both ships launched zodiacs to trade supplies.
We loaded up on toilet paper and new Hurtigruten Expeditions (HX) jackets.
I attended a bead workshop taught by Jodie, one of the cultural ambassadors on board. With a new appreciation of the patience required for the skill, I managed to complete an earring. It’s small, about a cm wide. I hope I have the opportunity to make a second one.
Around 8 pm we arrived at The Smoking Hills, a geological phenomena first observed by nonnatives in 1851. Captain Robert McClure was searching for the lost Franklin expedition (more on that later) along Canada’s Arctic coast near Cape Bathurst when he ‘discovered’ them.
They were first thought to be geothermal sites, but the local indigenous population knew better. They had been coming for centuries to collect coal in the region.
The underground oil shale and lignite coal are rich in sulfur, causing it to spontaneously ignite as the hills erode and are exposed to oxygen. Hundreds of grams of sulfur dioxide are generated per second. The tremendous heat bakes the surrounding mudstone and, with the sulfur, colors the surrounding land yellow and red.
There are no roads to this hellscape. One can visit by floatplane, helicopter, or boat. Happily, the intermittent fog we’ve been sailing through obligingly lifted for our visit.
Tonight there were optimal aurora conditions here. Mark and I checked throughout the short polar night (roughly midnight - 3 am) without success - maybe tonight!
😏
Great job on the earring!
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