Early this morning we entered the peaceful Amerdloq Fjord. The low fog quickly gave way as the sun rose in a completely blue sky.
After lunch we went out on Zodiac cruises to two fjords that are connected by a narrow strait. We spotted several bird nesting spots on the cliffs, which were marked not only with lots of bird droppings but also by orange lichens growing just below the nests. The bird droppings serve as fertilizer, which makes the lichen orange. We observed people hook-and-line fishing for cod and wolffish from small boats.
The rocks on the slopes around the fjords are some of the oldest on earth – it’s estimated that they are around four billion years old. This rock formation spans across northern Greenland and Baffin Island. In many places these rocks protrude near ancient dikes, which are intrusions of deep earth magma that can be seen as black spots and belts crisscrossing over the original rock layering.
As the tide went down the shoreline around the fjord exposed a belt that was densely covered with seaweeds, such as Fucus and kelp. In the water saw a lot of moon jellyfish.
In a hidden cove we were surprised by two Vikings who passed hot chocolate (some supplemented by a choice of aromatic liquors!) to the Zodiac passengers.
