I was woken with the crunching of the ship through ice. A beautiful blue hue to the horizon this morning with the fog having lifted.

We continue through Nunavut territory waters, but we have had to reverse our pathway overnight as the Strait we were travelling through, was too frozen over. Ice charts indicate our passage to Kugluktuk is no longer possible, so we won’t catch our flight from there to Edmonton. Staff are busy organising an alternate charter in 4 days time, probably taking off from Resolute. That’s the plan today anyway.

We are now back in the Prince Regent Inlet and making our way to Croker Bay.

Wildlife sighting for the morning: a bearded seal relaxing on an ice float just in front of the ship! And afternoon: a polar bear and 2 cubs. That makes our tally 53 bears to date.

We are in the general area where Captain John Franklin’s voyage of Arctic exploration came unstuck in 1845. The combined evidence of all studies to establish what happened to Franklin and his 128 men suggests that hypothermia, starvation, disease (scurvy), along with general exposure to a hostile environment whilst lacking adequate clothing and nutrition, killed everyone on board. (Cut marks on human bones were seen as signs that cannibalism! had taken place).