Harp Seal Pups - the icons of conservation worldwide With helicopters to the sea ice The Harp Seal Pups Expedition fantastic scenery, walking on sea ice, interacting with seal pups and enjoying a remote island Feb 27 - Mar 04
2011 During the last two decades, it was fascinating to see how the wonderful white coat of the newborn Harp Seal pups slowly transforms from being the world‘s most-precious fur to one of the greatest icons of nature conservation worldwide. While adult seals are still hunted in the hundreds of thousands in the Arctic, their pups have become protected. This protection 20 years ago, contributed to a much slower population decline and figure of these pups became a desireable puppet, toy and wallpaper image in millions of homes around the world.
Landing our helicopter on a giant ice floe and quietly sitting among these adorable, soft, pure white little creatures, is a fascinating experience for all nature lovers. And knowing that our visit contributes to the growing international awareness and to the transformation of a hunting industry into a tourism industry, this trip just becomes a must-do for all of those who care.
Join us, be one of the very first in the world to experience and photograph the life of a newborn Harp Seal pup in its native habitat in the North Atlantic! Detailed itinerary: | Feb 27 | arrive to Havre-aux Maisons Island |
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| | Today we all arrive on the Magdalen Islands, a lovely piece of Canadian territory in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Our commercial airplane lands on Havre-aux Maisons Island, from where we get on our transport vehicle and transfer to the neighboring island of Magdalen. Once at the hotel, depending on our arrival, we can take off on our first exploratory walk, or get changed in our rooms and gather in the lounge for our Harp Seal Presentation, Safety Orientation and Welcome Dinner. Part of our orientation today is a presentation about helicopter safety and the operation of helicopters on the ice, including safety instructions we all have to practice, such as the proper use of our float suits, seat belts and our behavior around these unique flying machines. Once we are done with our orientation and the lovely local seafood dinner, we will stay and chat around the fireplace in the lobby, with great expectations of the adventure that lies ahead of us. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Magdalen
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| Feb 28 | Magdalen Island |
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| | Today we have an early breakfast at 6 am and soon after gather in the hotel’s lobby, with great and ever-increasing excitement about our helicopter flight out to the sea ice. It is very important to know though, that this operation depends on weather and many other factors, so it is absolutely not guaranteed that we will be flying this morning. Every year, during the last week of February, 250.000 female Harp Seals gather on the sea ice (between 10 – 75 km from Magdalen Island) and give birth to their adorable, white little pups. Their birthing habitat is now a strictly protected national park, but a few visitors gain permits every year, in order to be able to visit this unbelievable natural phenomenon and to become ambassadors in promoting this important conservation work. The very first day when visitors are allowed is March 1st, but traditionally, the national park management always allowed a couple of flights the day before – on the last day of February. This is why we will be standing in the lobby at our hotel this day, waiting for the weather to clear and our pilots to communicate with the park rangers, to gain the final permission for take off. We have dedicated four full days for our visit on the islands, and included one flight to the ice floe for every one of us – so in case we miss the flight this morning, nothing happens, we will have three additional full days to try, but what would be more rewarding than be the first ever visitor of the year, and see these magic creatures without any human footprints, in their absolutely pristine, undisturbed environment? In case we manage to fly, our excursion will last for 3 hours, including the return helicopter trip. If we are lucky and the seals are only 10 minutes away, we will be able to spend 2.5 hours with them, but in case they are 45 min away, our visit reduces to 1.5 hours. But if we fell in love with the experience after our first visit and we wanted to do it again, we will be able to purchase a secondary permit from the national park and go again the following day, if availability and conditions allow. This way or another, we hope to be able to spend a fantastic morning on the ice with these creatures today, and have a relaxing afternoon around our hotel, exploring the landscape and digesting the fascinating experience we just had. Dinner will be served at 6 pm, followed by a presentation on the Magdalen Islands. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Magdalen
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| Mar 1 | Magdalen Island |
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| | In case we have been successful with our seal observation flight the day before, our day today is dedicated to the wider exploration of the Magdalen Islands. Otherwise, we will be standing by at our hotel again, hoping that today weather and other conditions will be more favorable and we can finally take off on that much-wanted helicopter flight out to the ice floes. In case we set off for island exploration, our first destination will be the fascinating Seal Interpretation Center in the eastern part of the islands. Here we can learn a great deal about all the seal species of the region, their biology, the hunting traditions and latest regulations, and also, to some extent, about the history and the people of the islands. Once we drove through some fascinating winter landscapes and visited a few more sights of interest, we will return to our hotel for a late lunch and a free afternoon, before we gather in the dining room for our delicious local dinner. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Magdalen
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| Mar 2 | Magdalen Island |
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| | In case we still haven’t managed to fly out to the seals, today is our next chance, so we will be standing by in the lobby right after breakfast. Or, in case you are still keen in going again (you can go as many as 4 times on this trip if you wanted to), you will prepare for the flight of the day. Otherwise, our group will set off for another tour around the islands, exploring the western part at this time, before returning to the hotel for a late lunch and a couple of free hours afterwards. Tonight, we will listen to a great presentation by our tour leader, on “Where to watch wildlife around the world” – a fascinating summary of the best wildlife encounters around the globe. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Magdalen
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| Mar 3 | Magdalen Island |
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| | Our last day to see the seals, if we have not experienced them the previous days, or shall you want to go again; those who have seen the seals and are keen for further exploration of the Magdelan Islands, today we will tour the central part. Together with the seals, several bird species return to the islands at this time of the year, so we will try to get to their traditional colony sites and watch as the newcomers slowly evaluate their homes and start interacting with each other, in preparations for the beginning of the fast-approaching mating season. After this lovely half-day tour, we will be back to the hotel again for a late lunch, and will pack our bags this afternoon and will get ready for the Farewell Dinner – a sad farewell to this quiet, pristine, lovely piece of land, with those hundreds of thoudands of seals in its surrounding waters. | | | Accomodation: Hotel Magdalen
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| Mar 4 | Magdalen Island/homebound |
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| | This morning we will have to be at the local airport as early as 8:20 in order to check in for our flight to Quebec City, so breakfast will be served at 6:30 and we will depart at 7:30. Within a couple of hours, we will be back to civilization, but all of our fantastic Harp Seal pup memories and photographs home with us. This is the official end of our program, have a safe flight home! | | | |
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