Eskimobugt

Eskimobugt, Nordvestfjord, Scoresby Sund, Greenland. Day 49. 16th August 2013.

Eskimobugt or Eskimo Bay is in Nordvestfjord, the north west extremity of the Scoresby Sound fjord complex. I can’t be more specific than that.

There was a sad sight when we landed. There were some musk oxen wandering around in the distance, both adults and young. However, rather closer to us there was a dead mother musk ox and her calf lying down beside the body, waiting to die of starvation.

This is a group of our expeditioners observing this from a polite distance. This also has the element of a sad scene. The central tall person with a light coat and blue hat, the genial Dr John Boyd, is no longer with us. He died of a heart attack at the unreasonably early age of 50 or so.

Musk ox calf on the left; dead mother on the right.

An adult musk ox, maybe moulting after winter.

Musk ox skull. There had been fatalities here before.

Views over Nordvestfjorden.

This is a two-image panorama and expands to a larger size.

The inevitable accompaniment to a walk in Greenland or Spitsbergen.

This image also expands to a large size if you click on it..

Another musk ox.

Arctic hares.

There was no walrus to talk to, no-one in our party called Alice and this is not even a white rabbit. For one thing, the ears are too long. It is of course, an arctic hare.

Hare we go again….

Some icebergs attain quite fetching shapes.

Eskimobugten. Well, here is the remains of an ancient Inuit residence.

Part of a reindeer antler …

… and I guess, part of a reindeer backbone. Perhaps leftovers from an Inuit feast.

Inside wall of an ancient Inuit house. Bones at the top and probably a safe at the bottom.

That same dwelling wall in the context of its environment.

Bear Islands and Syd Kap

Sep26

Bear Islands and Syd Kap, Scoresby Sund, Greenland. Day 48. 15th August 2013.

We went out in the zodiacs in the morning at the Bear Islands, navigating around in a forest of huge icebergs.

It was raining most of the day but that didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for the spectacular scenery around us.

Some remarkable patterns in the ice, too. I think the blue bands are fissures that have refrozen.

Then we encountered a polar bear swimming in the water (water trail at bottom left).

He got to land, looked at us for a while, then disappeared out of sight.

Later in the afternoon we had a landing at Syd Kap. Even some places in eastern Greenland you can find wildflowers.

This is an ancient Inuit meat safe or fridge in the context of the environment. They could put say a seal kill in there with stones over the top, safe from arctic foxes and polar bears.

Hare Fjord

Sep26

Hare Fjord, Scoresby Sund, Greenland. Day 47. 14th August 2013.

From Red Island we moved up Rødefjord and around the corner to Harefjord. Perhaps there was a prehistoric Krishna community here but I think it a touch more likely the fjord was named after the Arctic Hare.

There are many places on the eastern Greenland coast with the remains of ancient Inuit habitations. Here Carol, our resident archaeologist, explains such a site.

This I think is the view from the same place but looking in a different direction.

Same view, longer lens.

Many of us went for a walk and visited the ice river that you can see above.

Up close, of course, it’s a lot bigger.

A view of Hare Fjord from near the ice river. Click image for a larger view.

Later that evening, the weather was closing in and we were sailing on, along Øfjord. All following images are from the ship.

Ittoqqortoomiit

Sep24

Ittoqqortoomiit, Greenland. Day 46. 13th August 2013.

Some of you may know of Shanghai, the vast metropolis of the east coast of China. Others may know of New York, the vast metropolis on the east coast of North America.

Well, this is Ittoqqortoomiit, the vast metropolis on the east coast of Greenland. It is quite similar to Shanghai in that not very many people from Madagascar live there (if any) and the population is over 400.

This is a multi-image panorama that expands to a larger size when you click on it, if you want to see more detail.

Well, OK, at 452 people in 2013, Ittoqqortoomiit is actually the second largest conurbation in eastern Greenland though that one’s about as far away as Reykjavik and there’s nothing to the north. As you can tell by the name, it’s an Inuit town and Denmark (the colonial power) subsidised settlement here to guard against potential encroachment by other countries or more likely, mining companies.

I visited the small and charming museum.

Here are some of the historic Inuit artifacts inside the museum.

And here is a view out the window in the loft.

There some family groups and individuals wandering round in colourful traditional costume but it seemed presumptuous to take photographs without asking and I didn’t want a posed image. However, these people zotting round town in their tiny vehicles were fair game.

An interesting architectural extract from one of the buildings. At first glance it looks like a fire escape under the window but why would one bother? Well, I think it is in case of heavy snow. If there is ten feet of snow and the front door is under it, you can get in and out through the window on the top floor.

Here we have a village of dogs.

We saw something like a canine concentration camp near Longyearbyen. This by way of contrast is a habitation of happy huskies with their owner living on the premises.

They’re all standing up now. Must be close to feeding time.

… and here we go ….

The white dog at the front is particularly interested in the prospect.

This is Gary Rolfe, an explorer and adventurer who has traveled over 20,000 miles with his dogs over the polar regions.

And here he brings some puppies to show us.

Clavering Island (with Musk Oxen and Inuit Sites)

Sep22

Between Spitsbergen and Greenland. Days 43. 10th August 2013.

In our first landing on the desolate wilderness of Greenland, at Dødemandsbugten (Dead Man’s Bay) on Clavering Island, we found a resident population of humans. They were a working party of Danes, restoring some of the old huts. So our first experience in Greenland was unexpected social interaction.

This is the first of eleven posts on Greenland. The map shows our route, coming down from the north. Click the map if you would like to see it larger.

Many of us went for a walk in the hills behind the hut and soon came across a group of musk oxen, though quite some distance away.

Musk oxen, despite the name, are actually more closely related to sheep and goats than oxen.

Turning in the opposite direction from the musk oxen, here are a couple of views from the island across the water to the mainland.

There was the remains of a whole ancient Inuit village near the beach, not far from the hut. This I think is the remains of an Inuit safe or fridge, where they could store kills such as seals, safe from polar bears and arctic foxes.

This is the foundations of an Inuit house. The entrance way is the crease in the ground to the right.

Another house and a few more modern maritime remains.

There were several different waves of Inuit occupation of parts of Greenland, dating back as far as 2500BC. Settlement failed around 200AD and was not renewed until around 800AD. Most settlement movements appeared to have started from the north-west. Vikings also settled in the far south of Greenland from about 980AD to something like 1450. Our archaeologist Carol said how old these remains were and I remember only vaguely but it may have been something like 600 years ago.

Another house. Judging by the mound and the amount of rocks, this may have had a stone roof. Some used whalebone for roof support.

A two-roomed house this time, with the ship and the coast in the distance.

After some hours on shore, we went back to the ship for lunch.

After lunch, we sailed a little way along the coast of Clavering Island to Eskimones. Some of us went for a walk inland, accompanied of course by people with rifles and this is a view over a lake in the interior of Clavering Island.

Back on the beach, there were a number of interesting artifacts of times past.

And who would have thought that the ancient Inuit would have had metal tea pots and a milk churn. Most unusual for a neolithic culture. Then again, perhaps there’s another explanation….

Another hut being restored, presumably with a Dane beside it.

And finally, an interesting assortment of boats of perhaps questionable seaworthiness.

Murray Foote

Tag Archives: Inuit