DAY 8 - Ilulissat - Disko Bay

Another overnight hop up north brought us to the UNESCO World Heritage Site - the Ilulissat Icefjord.

Peps Log : Arrived in Ilulissat amazingly 14°C !!

AMAZING VIEWS !

Large icebergs can last up to 7 years

Icebergs vary between 1/7 and 1/9 above water depending on density of ice

No whales here. Moved last year possibly due to lack of feeding/fish

Interesting lecture on Inuits

70,000 Inuit population occupy 36% land mass of Canada

This spectacular place is a tidal fjord of 40km length into which the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier calves icebergs as it moves at one of the fastest rates in the world (40m a day)

The icebergs drift down the fjord over several months until they ground at the entrance. They can stay there for years until the force of the glacier and erosion of the icebergs from the seabed break them up and they are released into the sea.

The prevailing current takes them north, then south into the Atlantic. The iceberg that the Titanic sailed into came from this icefjord, much to Kate and Leonardos's chagrin.

The ice has different colours depending on the amount of trapped air within it. Pale blue is melted ice-water that refreezes quickly and is often seen as streaks within stress fractures.

Some icebergs are still covered with wind blown detritus from when they were still part of the glacier.

A smooth surface indicates that the iceberg has probably flipped over, exposing the polished undersea profile.

We heard a sharp crack and watched as a sheet of ice from an iceberg sheared off, causing a wave to form

FRANKLIN FACT

Final preparations made by Erebus and Terror whilst moored in Disko Bay for the onward journey to the Northwest Passage. Sailors wrote letters, fresh meat from 10 oxen was loaded and 5 men where discharged due to sickness (possibly swearing and drunkeness) and returned home.