Now you may ask, what exactly is the arctic bug? The arctic bug is the sheer beauty that the north has to offer; untamed, untouched and unspoiled. The arctic is one of the last “untouched” places on earth – you could have arrived to the same location hundreds of years earlier, and it would still have been just as wild. Once you’ve experienced this – you just want to keep going back to the arctic.

To say the least, it’s pretty clear we’re passionate about what we do. And we’re passionate about sharing it. The trick is, how did we “show” people our passion?

For many years, we tried different recipes; different types of websites, tried to advertise through magazines, travel shows, etc…

In 2010, we nailed it – a company called bv02 and a creative, talented group of people who worked there. Two people from bv02 joined us that summer, Andrew Milne, bv02 president, and Matt Davidson, media strategist. They too became bitten by the Arctic bug. They understood what we were trying to show people; and gave us the best strategy for it – We now knew how to present the Arctic Watch Experience to people who came across our website.

Both Matt and Andrew will be joining us this summer, to help us continue to deliver awesome videos and pictures to you, the adventurer.

Enough said. First up, Matt Davidson:

Matt Davidson created all the Arctic Watch videos on our website (of which one was nominated for a Webby – the equivalent of the Academy Awards for the internet!). His first time at Arctic Watch, he quickly became part of the Arctic Watch team. His talent, passion, creativity and patience has helped to make the Arctic Watch Experience reachable.

Andrew Milne:

President of bv02, Andrew’s creativity helped make our website possible. He understood what we were looking for, and, in just one week at Arctic Watch, was as “bitten” by the arctic as we are. His, Matt’s and the team at BV02′s hard work are greatly appreciated.

We look forward to having them both back at Arctic Watch this summer, for more adventure.

The city of Yellowknife, located on Great Slave Lake, NWT, is home to roughly 20,000 people. First settled by the Dene indians, and later for mining and accessing villages north of Yellowknife, the locals speak 5 languages (English, French, Denesuline, Dogrib, South and North Slavey). Officially settled in 1935 with the gold deposits in the area causing a post-war gold rush, the town’s industry is now focused on diamonds, transportation, mining, tourism and education.

Overnighting in Yellowknife, on your way back from Arctic Watch is always recommended. There’s plenty to do and plenty to see. From the old bush-pilot community, to the colourful house boats, friendly and relaxed locals, great hiking and fishing, you can easily spend a day exploring the frontier of Yellowknife, NWT.

Bullock’s Bistro (Voted best fish and chips!)

This is a must do while you’re in Yellowknife. Voted best fish & chips, this small and cosy atmosphere holds only a few tables with a small patio attached. A good spot to mingle with locals and hear a few great stories! The fish is freshly caught in Great Slave Lake and they offer seasonal caribou and Arctic Char. The kitchen is central to the restaurant, where you can watch the chef cook your meal, right at the bar.

See the house boats

The laid back community of house boats on the water in from of Yellowknife is always an experience to see. Be sure to rent a kayak and check out the bay area.

Go fishing with Carlos from Yellowknife Outdoor Adventures:

An afternoon of fishing with Carlos will give you the opportunity to experience some of the best northern pike fishing in Canada. Great fishing, great guide and a good way to experience the surroundings!

Thorton’s Wine & Tapas Room
Arctic Watch Chef and co-chef at Thorton’s Jeff Stewart has helped turn this little restaurant into Yellowknife’s best dinning room. Be sure to sample the tasty tapas and excellent wine flight!

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g154966-d2241096-Reviews-Thornton_s_Wine_Tapas_Room-Yellowknife_Northwest_Territories.html

To say the least, there is plenty to do and plenty to see in Yellowknife. Don’t forget to include a stop-over in Yellowknife on your trip to Arctic Watch.

So much for spring. We woke up this morning to a damp and cold 1°C outside, with a fresh new blanket of snow on the lake. For the last three days we have had a combination of rain, hail and snow. However the snow and hail dosent seem to keep the wildlife at bay. The caribou herds are still migrating by the lodge throughout the days. We had roughly 150 pass through, just yesterday. This morning we had a bear at the front door. It gave Sven a bit of a spook as he stumbled out of bed to in his boxers to get some wood. Good thing he happened to look out the window first!

With the bad weather, we have been mostly staying around the lodge. Doing chores such as rolling fuel barrels, getting the dump truck and packer working, doing laundry. Being stuck indoors has its advantages it has given us more time to do some baking. Sven is the master baker and has been making bread, we have also make cake with blueberries picked from last fall. These are nice changes to our simple diet. Which as been mostly consiting of fish several times a day accompanied with scalloped patatoes or mashed potatoes, with a side of canned vegetables. We only have three kinds of vegetables, peas, peas and carrots and green beans. We still have a month left and we are all ready fed up of eating canned vegetables! We have had to ration the good ingredients like butter, condensed milk, bacon and chocolate. We need to make them last the duration of our stay. The bright side is that you learn a lot of fish recipes. Dont try use Frenchies yellow mustard as a substitute for Dijon….it does not taste good!

Even with the bad weather we have been going for hikes up and down the esker. We noticed each time we go hiking, our tracks from the previous days have wolf tracks on top of them following our entire trail. Its good to know the wolves are close by.

The weather over the last couple of days has been really hot. With the warm climate, we have been seeing interesting changes. There are lots of new of birds arriving every day; golden eagles, bald eagles… The canadian geese and snow geese have been flying over the lodge, migrating north. The landscape has come alive with new sounds of wildlife. Small herds of caribou are walking past the camp everyday heading for the tundra. As I write this blog, looking out the window of the lodge, a mother and calf are walking across the bay heading for the esker. The lodge fox couple, have dug out a new burrow and are getting ready to have pups. The ptarmigan have been loosing their winter colors and have moved past the tree line into the tundra. The snow on the ground has almost completely melted. The lake is also starting to melt, with holes, cracks and lots of slush it has become to dangerous to skidoo on. Spring is officially on its way.

We have also found an old wolf den and several other fox dens. We will keep you updated as we wait for the main group of the Qamanirjuaq caribou herd to pass by. We are also keeping our eyes open for the wolves, lots of tracks but no sittings yet. Every time we go out walking or skiing, we get the feeling, of wolves on a near by hill, or behind a tree watching you!

Jeff Stewart

Our chef extraordinaire at Arctic Watch, Jeff Stewart, is the brains behind the great recipes and culinary experience at Arctic Watch. A member of the Arctic Watch team for 3 years, Jeff, a native of Prince Edward island, is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of Canada. Starting out as an apprentice under Chef Michael Smith, Jeff has spent the last 16 years working in some of the best restaurants in Canada. Currently co-chef at Thorton’s Wine and Tapas in Yellowknife, he has helped transform Thorton’s into the best dinning in Yellowknife.

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g154966-d2241096-Reviews-Thornton_s_Wine_Tapas_Room-Yellowknife_Northwest_Territories.html

Passionate about the Arctic, Jeff focuses on family style meals at Arctic Watch. In his own words “It’s like hosting a diner party every night, where guests, tired from their daily adventures, can find the comfort of a good meal and a glass of wine with new friends.”

According to Jeff, “Josée sources only the finest ingredients, making my job easy. The Weber’s have always had a passion for great cuisine. The kitchen becomes the heart and soul of the camp. When clients aren’t out on the land or water, it’s all about the food.”

When not wielding his chef’s knife, he can be found with a paddle in hand, kayaking down the Cunningham River.

Sven and I have been at alone at Ennadai Lake since april 29th. Everyday since has been an adventure. Even the days where we stayed around the lodge turned out to be filled with unexpected visitors, such as a black bear! We climbed on the roof and watched him from about 10 feet away, walking around the lodge. Not a bad birthday present for Sven!

Yesterday we did a trip all the way to the end of the right arm of the Lake Ennadai. We set out hoping to find the muskox. Instead of muskox, we found 4 barren land grizzly bears. A mother and two cubs and a single male. We also spotted caribou herds migrating north east. There was about 25 per herd. They were great finds and fun to observe. On the way back we stopped at the Ennadai weather station. Its eerie to see all these abandoned buildings sitting in the middle of the arctic tundra. Round trip, we drove 200km, it was great!

Over the next month, we will be posting short profiles on our staff at Arctic Watch, giving guests the opportunity to get to know a little more about the team at Arctic Watch.

While every staff member at Arctic Watch is not just a specialist in one field, each have their specific abilities that help to make the lodge the true experience it is.

Sven Neiderhauser

Sven is a former cross country ski racer with the Ontario team. For the past five years, he has worked at Arctic Watch in various roles; guide (likes kayaking, rafting and fishing), baker, mechanic, and builder. He was responsible for building Arctic Watch’s airstrip and has completed polar training with Richard.

His father, a Swiss baker, taught Sven at a very young age the art

A team will be leaving on April 19th to explore the vast wilderness and tundra of the Ennadai Lake and the surroundings. They will be kite-skiing, back country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.  After 10 days the majority of the team will depart, and Nansen Weber and Sven Niederhauser will remain to discover the tundra on their own for 50 days!!!  Stay tuned for updates live from Ennadai!

An Arial View of the Lodge on Ennadai Lake

Why Photo-identification? “Computer-assisted photo-identification provides a powerful, inexpensive method of monitoring population movements and testing hypotheses about ecological mechanisms affecting demography.  The use of photographic data enables the tracking large numbers of individuals reliably without subjecting them to stressful capture and marking procedures.

Traditional studies have required the capture and physical attachment of marks such a ear tags, collars, or leg bands to every individual included in the study.  This can be incredibly expensive, particularly for large animals requiring sedation, and includes the very real possibility of injury to the study animal or human team members.  This expense often results in few animals being marked, and thus the information gleaned from such small-sample studies tends to pale in comparison with the hundreds or thousands of animals that can be followed throughout their ivies with photographic mark-recapture.  With simply a camera, and a computer it is possible to carry our a successful, low-cost, fine-scale demographic study of hundreds of individually known animals.” *

Commencing this summer, as soon as the whales arrive in Cunningham Inlet, Gretchen Freund, an expert in whale photo-identification and Nansen Weber will collect the photographic data. Both Gretchen and Nansen are very experienced photographing the whales in Cunningham Inlet. (Most of the whale images on our web site were taken by them.) They will photograph whale heads and tails looking for identifying marks such as old scrapes and injuries.  They will sort, resize and catalogue the photos. The computerized identification will be done at the Mystic Aquarium after the summer collection is finished.

With this program we can start to answer some questions. Such as which whales return annually? How long do individual whales stay in Cunningham Inlet? It is the first step in our quest to better understand the Cunningham belugas. With better understanding, in the future we can help ensure their protection.

* Derek E .Lee and Monica L. Bond; Spotlight on the Masia Giraffe

A Beluga Whale Tail - A Typical Image for Photo-Identification