Wildlife
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Circus of the Spineless
By far, the most successful group of animals on our planet are the invertebrates. In terms of both sheer numbers and biomass we animals with spines just cannot compare. The current edition of the carnival that celebrates these spineless creatures just happens to be hosted by one of my favourite bird bloggers, John over at
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Some odds and ends
I can not tell you how disappointed I am in the current government’s decision to no longer fight for clemency for Canadians on death row in the US (There is currently one Canadian on Death Row there). I’ve long been proud of my country’s opposition to the death penalty, now it looks like that is
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Of wolves and inquests
(With apologies to Barry Lopez for the title). Some time ago I wrote a post stemming from the death of Kenton Carnagie, who was killed by wolves in Northern Saskatchewan. I see in the news today that an inquest is being held looking into his death, in part because it has been suggested that a
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Leopard Seal
Long before I’d ever travelled to Antarctica I’d heard about Leopard Seals (Hydrurga leptonyx). Twelve feet long, reptilian, and vicious, I’d read about them attacking the zodiac boats of tourists, and about one attacking a Canadian Polar Explorer through the ice, just failing in it’s effort to pull him through the hole and underwater. I
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Narwhal? Again?
The past three days or so there have been a few Narwhal coming right into Arctic Bay. This is a fairly rare occurance as I can remember only one other time since I’ve been here (1999) that they’ve come into Arctic Bay proper. They come into Victor Bay pretty much every year but not so
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Narwhal Pod Podcasts
Thought I’d share with you some short video of the Narwhals that came into Victor Bay over the past few days. Bear in mind that these videos were shot with point and shoot digital cameras. Here is one from the first day we saw them (the second day they were there).Download Narwhal1stmorning.MOV The second time
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qillilugaq
On a gorgeous day, three days ago, I took a couple from Switzerland over to Victor Bay, where people from Arctic Bay go to escape from the hustle and bustle. While talking to a fellow over there he happened to mention that there had been Narwhal there the night before. One of the goals of
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On Wilderness, Wildness and Wolves
That age old fraternity of nature, where man’s presence is unnoticed and his absence un-regretted. William Beebe’s definition of wilderness has always resounded with me. It is wonderful to think that there are places in the world where humankind’s presence goes un-noticed. It is both sad and maddening that those places are shrinking and disappearing