Thursday, August 3, 2023
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This morning we had an option of pancakes
for breakfast at the Ptarmigan Restaurant |
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Our Sea North Tours boat for the Beluga and
Prince of Wales Fort Tour; the boat is specially
built to be safe around the beluga whales |
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A small work boat dubbed Laperouse is named after the
French naval officer Jean-François de La Pérouse, whose three
ships came to Hudson Bay to destroy the British trading depots
in support of the colonists during the American Revolution |
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The rusted CGS Graham Bell tugboat (1929) assisted
in the construction of Churchill's port and served until
World War II when it was used on Canada's East Coast;
after the war it returned to Churchill and was grounded |
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Our captain and crew gave a presentation to explain
about the features of the boat we would be using, and
also explained that the spine of the beluga is not fused,
which allows it to turn its head much as we humans can |
They also showed the skull of the beluga whale, with the hollow holding the lipid filled "melon" in the forehead and the asymmetry of lipid-filled canals in the jawbone. The melon shapes sound waves, created through clicking noises made by belugas, that bounce back through the jaw, resulting in echolocation. In this way they can "see" their prey for feeding, be alerted to predators, and avoid swimming into obstacles. The asymmetry in the skull and jawbone assist iientifying directionality of the echoes.
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But first we were dropped off across the Churchill River at
the Prince of Wales Fort for an hour tour |
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In this area, the Bear Guard monitor for polar bears
on All Terrain Vehicles/ATVs (KSS) |
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Each group is also escorted by
a Bear Guard (KSS) |
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A closer look at the catkins of the
Salix brachycarpa/Barren-ground Willows |
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The seed pods of the Dryas octopetala/
Mountain Avens (ignore the Purple Paintbrushes?) |
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Solidago rigida/Stiff Goldenrod; our tour
was called Belugas, Bears and Blooms! |
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| Anemone multifida/Cutleaf Anemone fruit |
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Walking up to Prince of Wales Fort (1717 log fort as the
Churchill River Post of Hudson's Bay Company, 1731
stone fort) which was taken by the French in 1782 |
In 1783, the fort was returned to Hudson's Bay Company, but they rebuilt as Fort Churchill farther up the Churchill River.
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| The French broke apart many of the cannons |
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| The façade of Prince of Wales Fort |
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| The portal of the fort |
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| Hordeum jubatum/Squirrel-tail Grass |
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| This wall is covered with the Elegant Sunburst Lichen |
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| Inside the fort |
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Perhaps you can discern the etched symbol of
the Freemasons, found in the mason's quarters |
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| Arnica alpina/Alpine Arnica and seed pods |
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View from the fort toward Eskimo Point
and Hudson Bay |
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| Cannon pointed through its embrasure (KSS) |
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A damaged muzzle of a cannon. so we do not have to
worry about accidently shooting at the polar bear we
could barely see in the distance! |
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| Another view of the fort's interior |
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| Achillea nigrescens/Yarrow |
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| Elymus arenarius/Sea-lime Grass |
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| Taraxacum lacerum/Lacerate Dandelion |
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These ridges may indicate postglacial rebound with
the land recovering from the weight of the Laurentide
ice sheet and rising, the land once being the shoreline? |
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| Back in the boat: a view of Prince of Wales Fort |
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| A sleeping polar bear out on Eskimo Point |
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| A wandering polar bear to the right of center |
Perhaps our fellow adventurers will share better photos!
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| Yes! Ursus maritimus/Polar Bear thanks to Angèle! |
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| Polar bear (also by Angèle!) |
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From the higher prespective of the boat,
we could better see the belugas in the water |
Next: Itsanitaq Museum.
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