IN THIS EMAIL:
- Browse through images of the total solar eclipse captured by members of the Canadian Geographic community - Listen to the latest episode of the Explore Podcast featuring polar explorer and geoscientist Susan R. Eaton - Explore some illustrations from Jeff McIntyre’s new graphic novel and read about how nature and the road can nurture beleaguered souls
- The 2024 Canadian Wildlife Photography of the Year competition is open for entries! Read about the four categories and epic prizes - Looking for your next adventure? Take a look at Eagle-Eye Tours incredible trip to Saskatchewan where guests will have a good chance of spotting whooping cranes |
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| | | A composite image showing the progression of the eclipse in Halifax, N.S. (Photo: Sean McMullen) |
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On Monday, April 8, parts of Canada were brought to a standstill as millions of people in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada eagerly waited to witness a once-in-a-generation event: a total solar eclipse. Offices emptied, classes were cancelled, and stores temporarily closed as eager skywatchers across North America donned special glasses and turned their heads skyward to watch the moon pass in front of the sun. The path of totality reached Canada around 3:15 p.m., EDT beginning in southern Ontario and then moving through parts of Quebec and Atlantic Canada before exiting Newfoundland. Cloudy skies unfortunately prevailed along parts of the path, but that didn’t stop people from heading outside in droves to try to see and photograph the spectacle. And regardless of the sun’s visibility, people along the path still experienced some of the spooky effects of a total eclipse, including an eerie twilight, a drop in temperature, increased winds and in some cases a change in animal behaviour as wildlife began their nighttime routines. |
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| | | The Sea Women Expeditions team snorkels across the Arctic Circle off the west coast of Greenland in 2014. (Photo: Jill Heinerth. Courtesy of Sea Women Expeditions) |
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“Polar Exploration is not for the faint of heart.”
We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome RCGS Fellow Susan R. Eaton to this episode of Explore.
Eaton is a well-known polar explorer, geoscientist, educator, and the founder and leader of Sea Women Expeditions. In 2015, she was named one of Canada’s greatest 100 modern-day explorers by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and a year later, she was selected by Canadian Geographic as one of Canada’s greatest modern women explorers. She was also inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2020. For the past decade, her organization Sea Women Expeditions has led Indigenous and non-Indigenous women scientists, artists, educators, storytellers and more on Arctic sea voyages of discovery. |
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Montreal-born artist and graphic novelist Jeff McIntyre is one of the rare people who can now call their childhood hero a present-day mentor and friend. Having grown up copying the political caricatures of legendary Montreal Gazette cartoonist Terry Mosher, McIntyre — who now lives in his lakeside cabin in Val-des-Monts, Que. — spent much of his adult life as an oil painter and muralist. About seven years ago, inspired by his children, he put his paint brushes down and gave graphic novels a try. Five years later, he had his first completed work — Finding Manon in Montreal, a 250-page graphic novel detailing a love story that runs across three generations of a family (releasing later this year). On a whim, he sent Mosher a copy in the mail and — much to McIntyre’s disbelief — Mosher fell in love with it. A friendship was born, and Mosher’s valuable guidance has played a role in the creation of McIntyre’s debut graphic novel release: Salmon Run: Book 1. |
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The 2024 Canadian Wildlife Photography of the Year competition is open! Get your cameras ready because our immensely popular Canadian Wildlife Photography of the Year competition is back!
This year, we are giving away $10,000 in cash prizes, including a grand prize of $5,000 to one individual deserving of the title Canadian Wildlife Photographer of the Year! As always, we’re looking for your best shots of wildlife in Canada — plus non-animal wildlife! Enter into one of four categories for your chance to win the category prize of $1,000. The Canadian Wildlife Photographer of the Year will be selected from among entries to all four categories. Visit the competition website to read the full list of rules.
The categories
Things with wings: We’re looking for birds and bees — plus butterflies, bats, bugs and more. If it flies through the air, it belongs in this category.
Aquatic life: From tide pools to ponds, rivers to oceans, water is teeming with — and essential to — life. We want to see your best shots of fishes and kelp fronds, whales and wading birds.
Terrestrial life: From iconic predators like bears and wolves to majestic and elusive ungulates like moose and caribou to common-yet-charismatic mammals like foxes and squirrels, we’re looking for great images of Canada’s diverse land animals — and the habitats they depend on.
Flora and fungi: Interest in plants, trees, lichens and fungi is mushrooming (see what we did there?). We’re looking for creative shots revealing non-animal wildlife and the roles they play in their respective ecosystems.
The competition closes on July 31, 2024, so don't delay!
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Canadian Geographic Adventures
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| In October, sandhill cranes migrate south by the thousands across southern Saskatchewan, stopping at various localities to refuel before continuing their journey. With them are a handful of whooping cranes, coming from breeding grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories. |
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| | We have a good chance of finding whooping cranes on our birding tour as there is a fine network of field observers scouting the area for these legendary birds. Along with cranes, tens of thousands of snow geese and Canada geese, with lesser numbers of Ross’s, greater white-fronted and cackling geese, are pouring through, as well as other bird species. |
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If time permits and we have seen whooping cranes well, we will venture to Prince Albert National Park and the boreal forest, where we will have chances for boreal specialties like spruce grouse, pileated, black-backed and American three-toed woodpeckers, Canada jays, boreal chickadees, bohemian waxwings, and occasionally pine or evening grosbeaks, or white-winged crossbills. We also have the possibility to see moose, elk and sometimes river otter.
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