Port Leopold and Leopold Island

Port Leopold is an abandoned trading post in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut.  It faces Prince Regent Inlet at the northeast tip of Somerset Island and was the site of the winter encampment for the first major Royal Navy search for Sir John Franklins expedition.  It is a vast plateau of barren gravel dotted with Arctic plants that stretches out towards distant grey cliffs.  Our plans for our landing here had to be changed at the last minute as there were a couple of bears hanging around close to the old trading post site so that area was of course no longer accessible so a planned hike had to be cancelled but our time on shore exploring and looking at the old Thule sites where Inuit lived hundreds of years ago was really interesting and always great to stretch the legs.  Guides are always situated all around the landing sites to explain any interesting features.

After exploring the Port and going to some on board lectures we cruised slowly by Prince Leopold Island where the vertical cliffs rise 750 feet from the ocean.  These cliffs are notable as they are the breeding grounds for Thick billed Murres, Northern Fulmars and Black legged Kittiwakes.  Their nests are glued to the cliffs with guano made of bird excrement.  The colony is estimated at a quarter of a million birds which occupy the site from May until the end of August but many still remained though we are into September.  As we cruised along there were hundreds of birds in the water and many could be seen on the cliffs. The bird specialist Mark Mallory was on deck providing info as this is a place that his grad students do bird counts.

Sailing into Port Leopold 

The abandoned trading post around which the bears were lurking

The beach up to the land. Tides here are only about 20 centimetres 

Well preserved skull of a bow head whale on the beach

Close to shore the tundra was quite colourful with small arctic plants 

Gradually slopes up into the hills where there is almost no vegetation 

These are the remains of old Thule home sites situated high above the water

A single Thule home

A good example of an arctic willow. Very different from the willows we have at home these crawl along the ground 

Though the Arctic plants tend to be small many of them are very colourful 

This orange lichen on the rock almost looks like paint!

Marc St Onge can always be found explaining interesting rock formations. This one is fossilized rock of worm casings

A very broad expanse of tundra with nothing to protect one from the wind

The gun cases which are the proof of the ever present bear guards everywhere we go. They set up a bear perimeter and keep a constant lookout for bears the whole time we are on the ground 

The cliffs of Leopold Island 

They look like small dots but there are hundreds of birds on this cliff

Evening setting in in the Arctic