North Arm Fiord

  • North Arm Fiord
  • Nunavut

North Arm Fiord is located in Nunavut, on the northeast coast of the Baffin Island. It is well known for its beautiful mountains, valleys and glaciers. Migratory birds are also often found on the cliffs near the shore. Today, the team sailed through Coutts Inlet, located in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut. Though we didn’t see any, this region is known to be home to narwhals! The day began with a morning briefing in the hangar, which was followed by a presentation by our leg 8 visual artist Paula Murray. Paula is an award-winning ceramic artist from Meech Lake, Quebec, and is inspired by her belief that by embracing wounds, deeper meaning can be brought to our lives, transforming suffering into something worthy, sensuous and beautiful. Paula’s presentation was followed by a writing workshop in the Legacy Room, led by our leg 8 author Madeleine Thien, whose novels and stories have been translated into 25 languages and whose essays can be found in The Guardian, the Globe & Mail, Granta, The New York Times. In the afternoon, we took the zodiacs out into the North Arm fiord and listened to an impeccable set by our leg 8 musician Matt Barber. With the Canada C3 ship in the background, the Arctic sun shining, and a gentle wind rocking our boats, we were mesmerized by the jaw-dropping scenery and by Matt’s talent. Thank you to our leg 8 participants for sharing both their talents and their experiences with us. We are grateful that we have the opportunity to learn from you! We continued to sail through the fiord, and listened to some of our scientists and researchers discuss the glaciers we were seeing, as well as the wildlife that can be spotted in this area. We can’t believe we have almost reached Pond Inlet!