Friday, January 8, 2021

Arctic Quiz

I mentioned that I was reading about Arctic exploration as one of my mental exercises this winter.  It's a great way to challenge myself, keep my mind busy and forget about the pain.  The pain just recedes into the background when I'm mentally busy like that, or writing my blog like this.  And besides that it's interesting.

But it's taking more research and writing than I thought to prepare some posts on the Arctic for you, so I thought I'd give you a little quiz on the topic to whet your appetite in the meantime.  Here goes!

1. Who was the first English explorer to sail to the Arctic in 1576?

2. How far did he get?

3. Early explorers ran into a lot of ice as it was still the Little Ice Age.  Which explorer first penetrated the ice to start mapping the Northwest Passage over 250 years later?

4. Sir John Franklin was perhaps the most famous of Arctic explorers because he became trapped in ice and he and all his crew starved to death.  What were the names of his two ships?

5. Who was the biggest champion of Arctic exploration in the following years?

6. Which Arctic explorer is now credited with finding the last link in the Northwest Passage during the search for Franklin?

7. Near which island were Franklin's ships finally found in 2014 and 2016?

8. Who was the Inuit man who directed Parks Canada to Terror Bay to find one of the ships?  (After 3 dogged years of searching, they found it ten minutes with his help.)

9. Almost all Arctic islands and waterways are named after various Victorian English gentlemen.  Queen Maud Gulf is named after a queen of which country?

10.  Who named the gulf and why?

11. In what year did the American oil tanker, strengthened with an icebreaker bow, sail through the Northwest Passage escorted by the Canadian icebreaker CCGS John A. Mac Donald?

12. Which Arctic community known as a centre for native art changed its named to Kinngait less than a year ago?

13. In which community is the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS)?

14. How many cruise ships plied the Arctic waters in 2019?

15.  How far north in the Canadian Arctic do those Snowy Owls nest?









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7 comments:

  1. Phew, I think I need to print this out and do some research. The Arctic, like Antarctica, unforgiving, and those early explorers have given us so much of themselves and their findingds. Down here, the Ship Tangaroa, is leaving from Wellington very soon on her way to Antarctica. to undertake scientific studies. With all the navigation aids today, I wonder how those in older times managed, a sextant and the stars maybe. Keeping a brain active, I do a daily trivia quiz online, and sometimes get to 10/15 or maybe one more, most times about 6/15, but I am generally happy to persevere another day. Thanks for the challenge.

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  2. Wow!! I didn't do well in History or Geography, so I'm going to have to do some research!

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  3. I know nothing! But I’m interested.

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  4. Well, I failed -- guess it's time to do some research. A lot of the answers have been in books I've read, but have faded from memory. When you're done with the arctic you should do the same with the antarctic -- also fascinating history. Here's a book you might find interesting: "The Reindeer People: Living With Animals and Spirits in Siberia"

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  5. You ask some tough questions. I lived in the Arctic for five years and have read much but although I've heard of all these situations I don't have the information you ask for. Are you going to give us answers?

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  6. Answers, please. I don't know any of them.

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  7. It's great doing research, isn't it? We watched a great TV show on squirrels!

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