Beechey Island
Exciting Polar Bear sightings, frankly bleak beaches
Day 13 started early, at our most northernly latitude, 74.45°N as our inbuilt alarms did not recognise the clock going back yet another hour. Fortunately there was no fog over Radstock Bay, so we got up early to make use of the gym before the morning’s activities, acknowledging that we would be the first boat group to be called to go ashore.
All the passengers got a wake-up call at 7.15am, with the sighting of 2 polar bears. We were already on our way to the gym and bravely went outside, twice, to delight in seeing these fine specimens, but feeling rather out of place and cold in gym shorts (and puffa jacket). Our gym session was interrupted again, with the sighting of a mother with 2 cubs! 5 polar bears before breakfast and another as we grabbed a late breakfast. What a treat!
We then sailed to Beechey Island, famous for being the over-wintering site of Sir John Franklin’s doomed expedition to find the fabled Northwest Passage, a sea route connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific. His expedition in HMS Erebus and HMS Terror left Britain in 1845 with provisions for 3 years. All 129 men on board both ships perished. Despite several failed search missions, native Inuit testimony helped locate the sunken vessels near King William Island in 2014 and 2016. Local climate and sea conditions only allow inspection of the vessels for limited periods each year, but over time historians believe they will discover more about the mystery of what happened to the Franklin expedition.
Beechey Island is connected by a sunken causeway to Devon Island. It contains the 4 graves of the 3 men who perished on Franklin’s expedition and one who died on a search ship. There are also remains of camps, they would have made.
There are wide shale beaches, with evidence of some plant life.
There are steep cliffs to the shallow waters in the bay. However, it appears much more bleak than Dundas Harbour and we were visiting in the summer!
In contrast, the day ended with a lively, sociable quiz on the expedition so far, where Team Ed acquitted themselves admirably. We must have been paying some attention during the lectures!
