Here we explore the Inuit settlement and former Hudson’s Bay Company post at Cambridge Bay. Local landmarks include a picturesque stone church and the remains of the three-masted schooner, Maud, a second ship built by Admundsen for Arctic exploration. There is time to shop for local carvings and art. More than 50 species of shorebirds can be found here and muskoxen are often seen near the community.

Umingmaktuuq, meaning “like a muskox”, is a community at the site of a deserted Hudson’s Bay Company post, which was formed by Inuit families who elected to lead a more traditional lifestyle. The hamlet is one of the smallest permanent communities in Nunavut, with less than two dozen residents. Electricity is provided solely by portable generators, and a satellite phone is their only link to the outside world.

Situated on the famed Coppermine River, the hamlet of Kugluktuk is home to 1,200 residents. The proximity to the treeline make this area particularily rich in wildlife. Wolverines, moose, muskoxen, caribou, foxes, wolves and grizzly bears are all resident species. The people of Kugluktuk rely heavily on their traditional economy of hunting and fishing to feed and clothe their families for cultural and nutritional well being.

The Amundsen Gulf was explored and named after the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen who visited between 1903 and 1906. Few people live along the shores of the gulf, but there are a few settlements, including Ikaahuk, Ulukhaktok, and Paulatuk. (birthplace of famed Inuit artist and Adventure Canada resource person, David Ruben Pictoukun).

This peninsula is named for one of Canada’s pioneering anthropologists, and recipient of the Society’s Massey Medal, documented Aboriginal life in Canada’s North and in First Nations communities across the nation. He joined the first major scientific exploration of Canada’s Arctic from 1913–16 with the Canadian Arctic Expedition, led by explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. While Stefansson, Diamond and four others were ashore hunting caribou, ocean currents carried away their ship the Karluk. Surviving expedition members were forced to abandon her when it was subsequently crushed by ice. Jenness spent the next several years becoming fluent in Inuktitut and recording hundreds of drum dance songs, poems, legends and stories on wax phonographic cylinders. We’ll visit theAlbert Islands here.

The traditional name Ikaahuk (“where you go across to”) refers to both the movements of people from Victoria Island to Banks Island to hunt, and the later seasonal use of the Island for fox trapping. The English name, Sachs Harbour, comes from the Mary Sachs, a ship in the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913. A permanent settlement was established in 1929 when three Inuit families moved here to trap. In 1953, the RCMP set up a detachment. Situated on the southwestern coast of Banks Island, 122 people make up this lone permanent settlement on Banks Island.

Prince of Wales Strait is part of the Arctic Ocean, extending northeastward for 275 km from the Amundsen Gulf to Viscount Melville Sound and separating Banks and Victoria Islands. It was discovered in 1850 by Robert McClure, the Irish explorer, who came within sight of the Viscount Melville Sound before heavy ice forced him to turn back. It was named after Albert Edward, then the Prince of Wales. It was not navigated until the RCMP patrol of Sgt Larsen in 1944. It has since become the preferred route of large vessels making the passage.

Home to two thirds of the world’s population of Lesser Snow Geese, two federal Migratory Bird Sanctuaries were founded in 1961. The island is home to Barren-ground Caribou, polar bears, muskoxen, and birds such as robins and swallows. The first grizzly–polar bear hybrid found in the wild, was on Banks Island in April 2006 near Sachs Harbour. Muskoxen, with a population of about 40,000, are the most striking of the abundant wildlife on the island. It was named Banks Island in 1820 by Sir William Parry in honour of ventriloquist Sir Joseph Banks.

Melville Island was first visited by British explorer Sir William Parry in 1819. Not only did he discover the island, ice forced him to spend the winter in 1820 at what is now called “Winter Harbour”. The island is named for Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, who was First Sea Lord at the time. Melville Island is one of two major breeding grounds for a small sea goose, the Western High Arctic Brant. DNA analysis and field observations suggest that these birds may be distinct from other brant stocks. Numbering only 4,000-8,000 birds, this is one of the rarest goose stocks in the world.

Good soil conditions and a rare wetland environment produce abundant vegetation here, making Bathurst a major calving area for the endangered Peary Caribou. Here we also find Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area, a migratory route for polar bears from March to November. The north half of the island is the proposed Tuktusiuqvialuk National Park. There is a long human history on the island, with evidence of Dorset a nd Thule habitation as early as 2,000 BC.

In 1845 Sir John Franklin took his expedition of 129 men in two ships into the Wellington Channel. Not a soul returned from the fateful expedition. It was two years before search parties were launched. Aside from the bodies of three souls buried here, only relics were found as clues to the disappearance. Until recently, the three graves had left no indication as to the fate of the rest of the British party. Such is the interest in this story, the Canadian government recently announced a new initiative to locate the missing Franklin vessels.

Sailing through Lancaster Sound we will explore one of the large bays along the south coast of Devon Island. We’ll search out scenic icebergs, walrus and polar bears, as well as birdlife. Likely sightings are dovekies, and black guillemots, as well as one of the largest fulmar colonies in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

We will sail through Milne Inlet, a narwhal breeding ground, enroute to Pond Inlet. This bustling Arctic community is surrounded by one of the most beautiful landscapes in the Eastern Arctic. We will have a chance to explore the town, as well as take in a cultural presentation at the Nattinnak Centre.

We’ll investigate the rugged coastline and fjords of the Buchan Gulf and Northeast Baffin by Zodiac. Virtually unknown to modern travellers, these fjords are known for dog-tongued glaciers and mountains that have been sculpted by the ancient Laurentian ice sheet which once covered North America.

Snapping ice, growling glaciers and the howl of sled dogs – all sounds we will hear as we enter the Ilulissat harbour in the shadow of the nearby ice cap. Exploring the town reveals why this stop is a favourite for visitors from all over the world. Venturing a little further out of town on the tundra to the hills beyond rewards the wanderer with spectacular views of the Jacøbshavn icefield. Icebergs calving from this field travel as far south as New York.

Living in a small town that relies primarily on fishing for its existence, Itilleq’s residents are closely tied to the land and its resources. Beautifully coloured houses speckle the rocky landscape as the town’s children play freely in rocky fields. We’ll engage the local soccer team in a friendly match.

Lying at the head of the longest fjord in western Greenland, Kangerlussuaq has one of the most stable climates in the region though temperatures can range from –50C in the winter to as high as 28C in summer. From the Greenlandic, Kangerlussuaq, which means ‘The Big Fjord,’ at 168km long. Departing the ship here, we will make our way home.