Walrus & Bowhead Whales

Our Walrus & Bowhead whales tour begins today in Sanirajak, Nunavut. Participants will arrive on flights from Ottawa (via Iqaluit) or from Iqaluit if they are connecting this tour to our Narwhals & Polar Bears tours in Pond Inlet or Naujaat. We meet for an evening meal and to discuss the upcoming adventure. We should have a chance to meet our local guides and walk around the community of Sanirajak after dinner as we have 24 hours of daylight! Night at our hotel in Sanirajak.

We plan our 5 full-days of the tour around weather and ocean conditions.

The community of Sanirajak was known as Hall Beach until early 2020 and is the site of a DEW line station built in 1957. It sits on the western edge of the Foxe Basin. At this time of year there is open water very close to the beach or right at the beach. We set off from the edge of the ice by boat in search of walrus and bowhead whales. Walrus are typically found resting on small pans of sea ice over relatively shallow water where they forage for clams on the ocean floor. We will use the knowledge of our local guides to travel to the areas where we are most likely to find walrus. Weighing up to 900 kg (2000 lbs), these are enormous animals and seeing them packed together on a piece of ice is impressive!

At the edge of the open water we find the ‘floe edge’, which is the border between the solid ‘fast’ sea ice and the water. We travel along the floe edge in search of bowhead whales. There is a whole ecosystem of phytoplankton and zooplankton underneath the ice and these whales feed along and under the ice. We may even see them surfacing in small holes in the ice with just the ‘bow’ of their blowhole visible.

Bowhead whales are enormous! These arctic specialists can grow to 90,000 kg and are typically 15 m (50 ft) long, which means they are not one of the long slender whales – they have some girth to them. Being present when they surface close by is a truly magical experience!

Beyond our two large target mammals, there is plenty of other wildlife to enjoy. Ringed and bearded seals are relatively common and there is an abundance of birds migrating and nesting in the area. Over the water we are likely to see King and Common Eiders, Black Guillemots, Long-tailed Ducks, and Snow Geese. Polar bears are very uncommon in this area, but there is a small chance we could find one.

On small islands in Foxe Basin there are nesting Brant, Snow Geese, Red Phalarope, Arctic Tern, Sabine’s Gulls, and more. These are sites where local Inuit hunt geese and eiders and collect their eggs.

We anticipate being on the water looking for walrus, bowhead whales and other arctic wildlife four of the five full days. If weather prevents us getting out on the water, we will spend some time exploring the community and the areas around it. Sanirajak is a small community (population 848 in 2016) and we will have a chance to visit the local store and will probably meet some of the friendly local residents in our travels. Near the community there are numerous ponds and some sod house archaeological sites worth exploring. Fans of the film 'Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner' will be interested to know that our travels on the water may take us near the islands where Atanarjuat was exiled in the legend. Nights at our Sanirajak hotel.

Our Walrus & Bowhead Whales tour ends today. We catch our flight south from Sanirajak to Iqaluit in the morning and connect to a flight to Ottawa, arriving in the evening. We recommend you spend this night in Ottawa before connecting to flights home. We part ways here with memories from an incredible Arctic experience.