In a tiny fishing village in Labrador, the story of the heyday of Basque whaling is told through ancient whale bones and terracotta tile fragments that still lie scattered along the coastline. But, to be honest, you really need a good imagination to fill in the blanks.

A bison was killed by a vehicle in Elk Island National Park in August — the sixth fatality since 2020 — prompting the Alberta park to remind motorists to obey speed limits.

From now until mid-October, Jasper National Park is noisy with the bugling calls of bull elk, which sound like a high-pitched roar followed by low coughs or grunts.

It was foggy with a high probability of polar bears the morning we anchored off desolate Beechey Island and held our breath waiting to hear whether it was safe to go to shore. The tension mounted over breakfast for those who had sailed from Greenland to Nunavut with the dream of seeing the place where Sir John Franklin’s doomed Northwest Passage expedition spent the winter of 1845-1846, and where three of his men are buried.