By the evening of 14 April 2026, the ringed seal and its pup had been completely consumed. Nothing but two particular bones were left on the ice near the breathing hole. It had frozen over. Winter had reclaimed its incontestable dominance over the Arctic ocean.

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We decided to investigate the site and see whether we'd find any wolves or at least some fresh tracks to follow. The pack was there, resting scattered across Slidre Fiord. But this time they did not approach us and when we carefully positioned ourselves for photography, individual animals got up, trotted away and lay down again a few hundred meters further along the fiord. Another attempt was made, but the behaviour repeated itself. "We have to leave them alone. They want to sleep with both eyes closed." As Terry made this remarkable statement I had already extracted the battery and unmounted my camera from the tripod. It was obvious that the pack wanted some space for now. - 

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Would this be it for us? Would we encounter the wolves again, after having spent hours every day for more than a week in their presence?

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The following day seemed to announce a weather change. Apparently, a strong breeze was blowing down south at Grise Fiord and all I could hope was that it would not push up our way. The 24hr sunlight routine repeated itself. We slept as long as possible, managed the fuel for our heater, carefully carried out our image data backups, and enjoyed a coffee or two. Breakfast would consist of freeze-dried Peak Refuel "Strawberry Granola" (add hot water, wait for 5 minutes, 530 calories are yours). Reading, time for some ever enlightening chats with our Inuit friends, and soon it would be time to get ready for the night's activity. "The wolves are coming in!" It was Aberham who had left the tent for a quick smoke, now standing there half dressed for the cold and pointing down the fiord towards Eureka Sound. There they were, heading straight towards us. But the pack didn't stay around. The wolves just carried on east towards Sawtooth Ridge. We decided to pack some hot water and snacks, and follow them. It turned out to be a short excursion. We were privileged to observe the wolves hunting lemmings on a snowy field, but they eventually carried on at a pace and we had to turn around. 

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The next day our weather had changed. It was overcast, an icy breeze blowing, whiteout. In this light it would be too dangerous to take the ski-doos into the hills. But we didn't have to. Nolan and Terry were working on some or other thing in camp when the call came. The pack was on their way back towards Eureka Sound. A relatively short moment later we sat on our snow mobiles and followed them, overtaking them at a distance and settling in front again to observe the pack approach. About an hour later we had reached the area where we spent so much time before observing the seal kill. The pack continued uphill. They were on a mission. And to ensure everyone was in line, the Alpha took up position right on top of a sharp ridge, turned halfway, and started howling. The pack responded. A few minutes later they had disappeared into the diffuse white landscape. Not a sound could be heard, not an animal could be seen. It would be the last time for us to observe the pack. 

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I left the mess tent early next morning, ready perhaps to brush my teeth or so when I locked eyes with a very big wolf. But one I hadn't seen before! Darker in colouration, slightly more skittish, but not quite alone. There was a gorgeous white female helping him to investigate our camp. These two were not part of the pack. We never could find out whether they belonged to another family or if they were just out on romantic honeymoon. The loners did come back again, but then left heading north and were not seen again.

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With our final days in the field approaching, we wanted to head north of Black Top Ridge towards Greely Fiord, and search again the creeks and ice fields east in the direction Sawtooth Ridge. If luck would have it we'd perhaps find our pack again? - No wolves. Fresh tracks, more tracks, and nervous herds of muskoxen that had clearly just been tested by the predators. We decided to spend a bit of quality time with three different herds of muskoxen. but eventually, our time had come to prepare for our return to Resolute Bay.

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The 4th North of North gallery contains photographs showing the wolves heading out to the hills, hunting for lemmings, and returning during an icy whiteout day. There are some spectacular impressions of the midnight sun with Parhelia and a Circumzenithal arc I will write about in more detail in an upcoming blog. And finally, I have added a few photographs of the various muskox herds we could observe.

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This 2026 High-Arctic expedition has by far exceeded any kind of expectation. I hope you enjoy the gallery as much as I do!