High Arctic Franklin and Wildlife Special

Fly from Edmonton to Resolute. Zodiac transfer to ship. Please note, there is a flight package for the return flights from Edmonton to Resolute of US$1995pp or equivalent.

Beechey is where Franklin spent his last winter in 1845, before vanishing into the wilderness, prompting a series of rescue attempts. The mystery was partially solved in 2014 when the remains of his ship, HMS Erebus were found in Victoria Strait.A shore visit will take you to grave markers on a remote windswept beach. Later, we sail across Barrow Strait to the bird cliffs of Prince Leopold Island, home to thousands of Brunnich's and black guillemots, northern fulmars and black-legged kittiwakes. Hopefully, we will also spot some ringed seals and their predator, the polar bear.

Arrive along the south-eastern shore of Somerset Island and land at Fury Beach, named after HMS Fury a sloop commanded by Commander Parry during two expeditions. She foundered and was abandoned in 1825 and her stores left as a supply depot for future expeditions.

Still in Prince Regent Inlet, we stop at Fort Ross, a former Hudson's Bay Company outpost and ancient Inuit settlement. As we sail the Bellot Strait, look out for marine mammals and even polar bears.

Here, on the shore of Prince of Wales Island is a known hotspot for polar bears and their prey, beluga whales, whose skeletons are seen strewn along the beach.

We travel in the strait, close to where the wreck of the Erebus was recently discovered. On Victoria point, a lifeboat left abandoned and cutlery, buttons and other artefacts plus human bones tell a sad story of a rescue that never came.

Here on the Boothia Peninsula is another evocative location for Canadian history enthusiasts. The RCMP vessel St Roch wintered here frozen in the ice in 1942 - this was the first Canadian ship to transit the Northwest Passage.

Passage through Peel Sound is highly dependent on ice conditions. This is the heart of the Northwest Passage and we now know that Franklin sailed his two ships through the sound in 1846 before becoming stuck in the ice.

This deep inlet in Peel Sound is a known hotspot for wildlife. we plan a Zodiac landing for last sightings before we head back towards Resolute.

Arrive in Resolute and, after breakfast, transfer to shore by Zodiac for our flight back to Edmonton.