Canada 25 cents 2013 Bowhead whales glossy

Canada 25 cents 2013 2013 Bowhead whales, glossy.

Coin from the series - Life in the North with the image of the largest bowhead whale.

In 1913, 2 research groups were assembled to map and study the lands beyond the Arctic Circle. Initially, the expedition was assembled by the American Geographical Society, but then Canada became the main sponsor. The expedition was led by anthropologist, ethnographer and writer Viljallmur Stefansson and zoologist Rudolf Martin Anderson.

The expedition lasted for about 5 years, during this time a lot of various studies were carried out: geographical, biological, anthropological, ethnographic, metrological and magnetic. A huge territory was explored and a number of islands in the Arctic archipelago were discovered.

Despite the succession of failures, during the expedition, scientists managed to carry out thousands of experiments and measurements, the participants brought more than a thousand artifacts, 4,000 photographs and almost 3 km of film. The studies made it possible to correct the topography of the shelf, which was of great importance for navigation (during the expedition, due to poor cartography, 2 ships were damaged), the participants made temperature measurements, and also clarified the course of glaciers and icebergs in this part of the ocean.

The materials of the expedition were enough for 14 volumes of scientific papers, they were used for another half century. Only by the end of the century was it possible to equip a second expedition to clarify the results. Stuffed animals, artifacts of local Inuit people for a long time were the only evidence of the development of the Canadian Arctic.

Obverse: depicts a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 77, the profile is surrounded by the inscription “ELIZABETH II D. G. REGINA”.

Reverse: depicts several whales in close-up in the center, one large and two smaller ones. At the bottom of the coin there is an image of people sailing in a boat after a whale.

Release date: 2013