Tag Archives: Herschel Island

The Northwest Passage in 2026

For those of you unfamiliar with the names of the assorted islands and channels of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago here is a map that hopefully helps:

Plus another map detailing the routes through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago that have previously been successfully navigated by vessels large and small:

The sea ice in Lancaster Sound and the Amundsen Gulf is breaking up, and melt ponds are now visible on the fast ice across much of the southern route through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago:

“False colour” image of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago on June 17th from the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite

The melt ponds previously visible in the Coronation Gulf now appear to have drained:

“False colour” image of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago on June 3rd from the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite
Continue reading The Northwest Passage in 2026

The Northwest Passage in 2023

Prompted by a comment by Tom in the June open thread, the time has evidently come to open the 2023 Northwest Passage passage thread. First of all let’s get our bearings with the help of this map of the area:

and another map detailing the routes through Canadian Arctic Archipelago that have previously been successfully traversed:

As our starter for ten for 2023, there is already plenty of open water in the Amundsen Gulf, together with plenty of melt ponding on the remaining fast ice in Franklin and Darnley Bays:

“False colour” image of the Amundsen Gulf on June 3rd from the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite
Continue reading The Northwest Passage in 2023