Friday 5 June 2015

The Denmark Strait and Cape Farewell

Over the last two days we have sailed southwest across the Denmark Strait, from Iceland to the most southerly tip of Greenland, Cape Farewell. The strait is known for its rough water but on our crossing, she was very tame. Some of us experienced in this part of the world say it was the calmest they have seen it!



We were lucky to see two Humpback whales on our way yesterday and today we had a large pod of Long-finned Pilot Whales run along side the Fram.


The morning sunrise was spectacular!


We used the two days at sea to present many lectures to our guests on a variety of subjects pertaining to Greenland. The idea of this was simple- the more you know about a place, the more you get out of your visit.


Along the way, we were accompanied by a few seabirds including Northern Fulmars and this lovely, immature Iceland Gull. One of us also caught a glimse of a flock of small, all-white gulls which we think were Ivory Gulls. Although not from this trip, your faithful bloggers wanted to let you know what an Ivory Gull looks like. Spring is very late year in Greenland and there is lots of ice around. This is perhaps why the Ivory Gulls were there.

An immature Iceland Gull
Ivory Gull
Even though this last sea-day was a bit grey and foggy, our excitement built up as we approached the southern tip of Greenland. And our first ice, though only bergy-bits, were nevertheless a thrill to see! We expect to see A LOT more ice in the coming days!