LJV_5616_1-Edit-Edit

The evening sun lights up a giant peak on northern Sillem Island, Nunavut, Canada.

August morning in Qik

A view across the sound over a distance of nearly 25 kilometres taken from Pond Inlet, Baffin island, Nunavut.

This was taken during the darkest hour of the day in the land of the midnight sun. It was at this location that the last sighting of the ill fated Franklin expedition by some Inuit fisherman took place in the summer of 1845.

At this time of year and until the sea ice begins to form again in the Arctic, there lurks the risk of hungry polar bears wandering into town in search of food. Depending largely on the sea ice to hunt their dietary staple, seal, they go hungry through the summer months, subsisting largely on stored fat, getting gradually leaner and less selective about what to eat.

Children playing are in danger for the next month or two, and stay in groups to reduce the risk of a bear surprising them. The hamlet also has a watch system in place, keeping an eye towards the sea and garbage dump, to warn off any curious bears, killing any that persistently wander into the hamlet.

Every once a while the village dogs can be heard barking in a discordant cacophony, sounding their warning if a bear wanders too close. In a land of such chaotic beauty, people need to remain vigilant and aware of their surroundings.

Perhaps the lack of trees are a blessing after all.

LJV_5510_1-Edit

End of golden hour on the 27th of June. The mouth of the Sylvia Grinnell is the last part of the river to break up, as summer returns to the Arctic.

View of ice on the Northwestern Passages and eastern shoreline of Nunavut Land Claims Agreement - Hall Beach Inuit Owned Land Nunavut Canada

My Home

Pangnirtung, located 40 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, is squeezed onto a narrow strip of land between the mile high peaks of the Cumberland Peninsula and the frigid depths of the Pangnirtung Fiord. Our landscape is so spectacular that Pangnirtung is known as "The Switzerland of the Arctic".

Pangnirtung Nunavut lit by the aurora and moonlight

Looking Close… on Friday! Black

This unusual rock strata was seen on northern Sillem Island, Nunavut, Canada.

View of the wind-blown appearance of the terrain of Nunavut Land Claims Agreement - Hall Beach Inuit Owned Land and upper Western Passages Canada

Beechey Island, Nunavut, Canada, was named after the father of Frederick William Beechey, a 19th century Arctic explorer with the Royal Navy.

Nunavut. Sea ice near Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Canada.

For licensing see:

www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/icebergs-and-mountains...

In summer.

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Canadien Northwest Territory

Nunavut. Icebergs near Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Canada.

For licensing see:

www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/icebergs-on-frozen-sea...

This barge seemed particularly front heavy.

It was a beautiful but fateful day on April 7, 2022.

I was finally recovering from my broken tibia, when my kneecap snapped in two. Ow! One step forward...

This stream has cut its way into Cuming Inlet from an ice sheet on southern Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada.

Lined up for runway 17, this is as green as it gets up in the Arctic.

Iceberg caught in the ice near Pond Inlet.

Melting snow and ice feeds a waterfall on the Lower Savage Islands, Nunavut, Canada.

Ice clogs the forbidding coastal cliffs of Akpatok Island, Nunavut, Canada.

The Canada Post office at Resolute, Nunavut, is on the hillside just above the hamlet.

Nunavut, Canada.

View of the wind-blown appearance of the terrain of Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Hall Beach Inuit Owned Land and upper Western Passages Canada

Monumental Island, Nunavut, Canada, is inhabited only by seals, walruses, and polar bears.

...in July

...in July.

Looking out of an airplane window at night, 33000 feet above northern Canada, somewhere near Baker Lake.

Another illustration from A night among polar bears, a book for young readers I illustrated a couple of months ago.

It was rather fun having to depict a specific place, in this case it was Nunavut in northern Canada.

... in summer.