The Chase
During my nine visits to the High Arctic I have often been asked about the life and death encounter that I had with the Polar Bear. What has never been mentioned is that I had a close encounter with a Musk Ox bull in the North East Greenland National Park – the most stunning Arctic habitat I have ever seen.
In summer north east Greenland is blessed with constant high pressure and the sun never sets. I was lucky enough to join an expedition to Vega Sound for three weeks -moving around by Twin Otter plane, zodiacs and camping in constant sunlight. I was out exploring the tundra nine hours every day and in those days(2005) taking cine-film plus the occasional still photos with a G9 compact camera.
I had discovered a breeding pair of Great Northern Divers on a large lake when, suddenly a large bull Musk Ox appeared and headed straight for me. He was not amused so I retreated up the slope with him in pursuit. In today’s blog photo you can see the lake and how far he followed me before giving up. I found out later that Musk Ox have a terrific turn of speed over fifty yards and can then hyperventilate and die!! Luckily none of this happened and I managed to take a quick photo before returning to the lake to retrieve my cine camera!
This weeks gallery includes the few photos I took of a memorable trip.Click here
Published by
Gordon Yates
Updated on
January 17, 2021
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Gordon Yates - Wildlife Photographer
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Award-Winning Photography
Alongside filmmaking, Gordon has earned recognition in still photography competitions with the BBC, RSPB, Scottish Wildlife, and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club — using his trusted Pentax equipment. One of his proudest achievements was seeing ten minutes of his work broadcast by Granada Television — a milestone in a lifetime dedicated to wildlife storytelling. Today, he continues capturing the natural world with his Canon EOS 7D and Canon XM2 digital camcorder.