I woke this morning feeling the absence of my CPAP. I've been doing the ExciteOSA, which is like a TENS unit for your tongue to try to get by without the CPAP for this trip. It seems to be helping, as I feel less tired than I usually do after going this long without the machine affectionately known as "Darth Vader", and people have been talking about another member's snoring instead of mine! Usually, without the CPAP, my snoring is atrocious, and the other guy's snoring wasn't really too bad compared to my normal, untreated chainsaw.
I did my whole routine of dressing in the sleeping bag before climbing out and throwing everything into the vestibule that needed to be put on after going to the bathroom. After dressing, while waiting for breakfast, I started feeling my blood sugar bottoming down. One of the other group members is a type 1 diabetic, and she gave me a couple of glucose tablets. I felt much better after that. We had scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns for breakfast, and Ken said the Windy app says we'll have some wind today, so we packed an extra layer, just in case.
We found a good spot very quickly, and since I thought my pictures sucked yesterday (what I looked at of them), I put the 2x extender on, hoping they would be better.
The weather was wonderful. We had nice, clear, and smooth-ish water. Still cloudy, but okay.
A small breeze kicked up and gave some waves and pushed the brash ice and bergs further out.
We saw some birds and seals. I got this thick-billed murre just before it dove under to catch food.
I though I missed this long-tailed jaeger, but I got a few poor shots.
This ringed seal played around for a while, too.
While we were sitting around waiting, I mentioned to Ken that I only had the Arctic Ocean left for getting into, and that any body part counts. I've been in the North and South Atlantic, the North and South Pacific, the Southern Ocean, and the Indian Ocean. The only ocean left is the Arctic. The International Hydrographic Organization defines Baffin Bay as a marginal arm of the Arctic Ocean and we were well above the Arctic Circle, so this would, in fact, be my last ocean to be in. So, we asked the local guides if it would be safe, and one went over to check the ice all the way to the edge. He found me a spot. I put my coat on (because I was laying down in the snow and ice and needed that waterproof outer layer) and laid down, putting my hand in and splashing water! Just a little after I took my hand out, a murre popped up at just that spot! I'm glad he didn't get my fingers!
I started a fad. After guide Andrew helped me up (which was a chore in all those layers), there was a small line to also touch the water! Of the 10 tourist members of our group, at least four others (so half) also dipped a paw into the frigid Arctic waters!
Andrew also pointed out more polar bear tracks along the floe edge/polar bear highway this morning.
Soon after the last of us finished, just about lunch time, a compliance officer with the Canadian Wildlife Service stopped by to make sure everything was copacetic, which it was.
It wasn't long after they left that we heard that call we had come all the way up here for - "Narwhale! Seven o'clock and moving left!" We all ran to our cameras, doing the best we could to track and photograph them while they bobbed up and down. I did my best, but I practiced for harsh light, and my skills aren't so great to begin with. I have decided that I really stink as a photographer for pictures of moving targets on the water. But, I think I'm the only one of us that got a tusk! In this case, a poor picture is better than no picture!
After lunch, we got a similar call with these guys heading to the right. I'm glad our guides knew most of us didn't have a clue which way was east or west, but we could tell our right from our left! Again, my pictures still sucked, but here is one of the better ones.
The video is a little better.
When he dove, many of our group walked over to the next little cove, hoping he would come up there. Notice that anytime somebody went away from the core group, an armed guard had to go with them, just in case a polar bear showed up and decided to attack. They tend to try to stay away from groups of people and groups of tents, but they have been known to attack individuals or groups of two. The gun (a .30-06 rifle) is hard to see, but the guy fourth from the right is the guide carrying it, and it is the little line over his right shoulder.
I never saw any of them grab for the cameras while they were there, and they said it came up, but still too far away, so I'm glad I rested and shot some more kittiwakes
and scenery.
Baffin Island on the left; Bylot Island on the right. Eclipse Sound opening into Baffin Bay is the frozen icy part!
A crack in the floe ice behind our chairs.
Soon after the rest of them got back, we loaded up and headed back to camp. When I dumped my pictures, I thought they all sucked. My focus tended to be short, but it was hard to track them. I think I need to go to a marine park and practice shooting moving marine mammals when I get back to Biloxi. I also need to remember to use sunscreen because my face got sunburned today. Dinner was a rice, vegetable, chicken stew type meal. I went to bed feeling very downhearted about the quality of my narwhal shots. Hoping for more opportunities!
No comments:
Post a Comment