Tanquary Fjord: Western Ellesmere Island
One Departure
Start: Ottawa
Finish: Ottawa
BBC Film Crew Aboard this Expedition
When the BBC decided to produce a sequel to Planet Earth – Frozen Planet – the filmmakers turned to Quark Expeditions for logistical support. As a result, a BBC film crew will be shooting footage aboard Tanquary Fjord: Western Ellesmere Island.
During the voyage, the crew will deliver presentations and show dailies – raw footage captured during each day’s filming. The dailies will be filmed with the technology that enables the BCC’s Natural History Unit to capture never-before-seen footage of wildlife in their natural habitat.
Day 1 – 2
Day 1: Ottawa, Canada
In the imagination of many people the Arctic landscape is vast tundra valleys that stretch toward snow-capped mountains, while polar bears and walrus rest on ice floes just offshore. We can’t guarantee polar bears and walrus sightings, but we can promise breathtaking landscape during this expedition that begins in Ottawa, Canada.
Day 2: Embarkation Day
During your flight from Ottawa to Resolute, boreal forest changes to tundra and ice. By evening you’ll be above the Arctic Circle and aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov.
Day 3
Devon Island
With a landscape surprisingly similar to the planet Mars, this ice-capped island will be the site of your first shore landings. The Devon Island visits encompass wildlife, the history of Arctic exploration and the archaeological remains of the Thule people, ancestors of the Inuit.
Day 4-5
Coburg Island
From Coburg Island, a nesting ground for seabirds, you sail to Grise Fjord, the only community on Ellesmere Island. From there, the ship navigates Hell Gate, a narrow passage that has been transited successfully only by a handful of passenger vessels.
Day 6-9
Tanquary Fjord
The epic beauty that is Tanquary Fjord encompasses sweeping mountain valleys under huge Arctic skies. Luminous glaciers cascade down to clear blue waters. You’ll stroll across soft tundra, home to thousands of species of minature plants. Twenty-four hours of daylight provides ample opportunity to take photos in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island.
Day 10-11
Axel Heiberg Island
Our next stop is Eureka Sound. Helicopter flights take us over an ancient petrified forest on Ellesmere Island’s western coast. Stunning Axel Heiberg Island is next. There another helicopter ride takes us in search of musk oxen, wolves and Arctic hare.
Day 12
Norwegian Bay
There are many wonderful and exciting sites during this journey through Norwegian Bay and Belcher Channel. However, the experience of watching the 24,000 horsepower Kapitan Khlebnikov battle its way through some of the toughest ice in the world may be one of the most memorable. We then head south, through Penny Strait to Queens Channel, with plans to explore McDougall Sound on the alert for walrus and polar bears.
Day 13-14
Beechey Island
Our final landing is on Beechey Island to view the Franklin Memorial. History surrounds you on this desolate coast, where, in 1846-47, Sir John Franklin and his men wintered before disappearing, never to be seen again.
