A flat, calm crossing of the Davis Strait is something to only happen in one’s dreams, and yet today on National Geographic Explorer, this is what we experienced.

It was a great day to see many hundreds of little auks sitting on the surface, diving deeply through crystal clear waters to feed.

A morning lecture from Casper on the modern history of Greenland was followed by a presentation from National Geographic Photo Instructor Sue Forbes which set us up for getting great shots during our expedition.

We bio-secured our outer layers in preparation for landings in Baffin and Newfoundland, being careful to remove all dirt to avoid contamination of sites new to us.

Our day was, as they often are, filled with delicious food from chef Ivan and the galley team. A Greenland themed lunch of smoked salmon with lingonberries and reindeer stew was followed by a wonderful BBQ afternoon tea on the sun deck.

We had an afternoon sighting of Northern bottlenose whales that came close enough to our ship to get a clear identification. Our watchman, Roger, was (as is so often the case) the one who spotted them first.