After a restful sleep I woke to a super warm tent, I blasted the
heater for a while before turning it down, it was so nice to wake up feeling so
toasty! I'm starting to learn the tricks of staying warm - whether it be using
plastic Ziploc bags over my feet in my boots (it works!), which layers work
best, when to use the feet warmers, when to turn on the heater, warm my clothes
and sit by the fire.
As we’re loading the sleds a polar bear is spotted near camp,
sniffing us out cautiously moving towards us. Slowly, he approaches something,
takes a heavy pounce right on a seal hole. Lucky for the seal he didn't
succeed, not so lucky for him. Good sign for what's to come of the day.
Back at the floe edge, Arctic Kingdom sets up home base with all
the usual luxuries, while we situate our tripods to settle in for the day. It
doesn't take long for the first narwhals to start making their way through.
Some amazing tail flukes, followed by tusks and more tusks! Some are traveling
in pairs, others in small groups, then it's rush hour on the narwhal highway.
Huge groups making their way through, coming up from the southern part of the
floe edge and heading north.
The Arctic is fascinating - all perception and routine is lost.
What seem to be a few kilometers away can be twenty. The sounds are out of this
world; you can hear the narwhal breathing, whistling, before you can even see
them.
Lunch consists of soup with photography. Robin serves barbequed shish
kebabs to my camera spot so I don't have to leave. Ahh…service.
Time to put on the survival suits and get into the water for
some kayaking! It's my first time...ever, and I get to try it here, off the ice
in some of the coldest waters on the planet!
Jane gives us all a lesson and into the water we go. I'm paired
up with 10-year-old Bea, spunky little thing she is. Bea likes to talk more and
play around with her paddle than actually paddle. We go quite a distance and
she's ready to turn around. My arms are aching, but we all want to go farther.
I’m trying to be nice: "Bea, paddle, don't put the breaks
on you're making me work harder, Bea be quiet, Bea your splashing me the way
your paddling". Bea knows she’s wearing on me and says, “You don’t like me
as your partner anymore, do you, Natasha?” Oh
my gosh, haha. All I can do is laugh; I’m seriously exhausted, but wouldn’t
trade this for the world.
We glide past sparkling ice chunks with bright blue reflections
coming from below the water, narwhal in the distance. We gently paddle closer
and are within 50 feet of them. No one else around except our group of 8. The
feeling of being in a kayak so close makes me speechless. On the return I
figured out in order to get Bea to help, to count the paddles...1,2,3,4...she
counts all the way back to shore and amazingly gives it everything she's got
for those last 670 strokes.
We've
been out for 8 hours and it feels like 4. So much action but we have to get
back for dinner, and not soon after we're back on the ice, greeted by more
narwhal. The sun is out and the light is amazing this evening. Birds skimming
by and overhead, the waters are calm. Returning back to camp just in time for
the midnight sun, reflecting on a truly amazing day. How does one go to sleep
with such a majestic world happening outside? Put up the dark window in the
tent, roll into my warm bed with a heated water bottle and look forward for
what tomorrow will bring.
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