2023 Greenland and Canadian Arctic Expedition Cruise – Cape Mercy, Nunavut, Canada

I enjoyed a peaceful short walk to the little lake on this island and then headed back to the ship. However, the folks who did the long walk got quite a bit of excitement as they were coming back to the landing site. A bear had come over the ridge and was running towards the area where they were loading on the Zodiacs. The polar bear protocols kicked in with several of the bear guards firing their percussion flairs at the bear. At first he jumped in the water, where he probably felt safest, but continued to head toward the landing site. Then they fired a few more flairs at him, and he got scared enough to run away. Polar bears are fast and have no fear of humans.