Lindblad Expeditions (LEX) owned and operated Bahamas Flagged MV National Geographic Explorer, and have a tourism-based cruise planned in August 2023, which includes five days in Nunavut. The stops include a community visit and CBSA clearance at Pangnirtung, and then visits to Kekerton Island, Butterfly Bay, Monumental Island and Lower Savage Islands, before departing for Button Islands. The vessel carries 126 passengers, with a total maximum certified capacity including all staff and crew of 260 persons onboard. The vessel is Polar Code PC5, making it one of the strongest ice class passenger vessels. It will not be joined by any additional icebreaking support. The Captain has extensive experience in ice and how to Navigate in the area.The purpose of the project is to carry passengers through the Canadian Arctic for tourism purposes. The Captain and expedition leaders for these itineraries have been selected based on their polar experience and understanding of wildlife and sensitive remote regions such as the Arctic. This is a tourist expedition where the goal is to experience the Arctic and visit various sites along the way with minimal disturbance to landings and wildlife. For the visits to these areas, all passengers will be accompanied by members of Lindblad Expedition staff including the expedition leader, and several naturalists. The activities undertaken during these visits may include walking/hiking, photography, kayaking, Zodiac cruising.The cruise is educational in nature and Lindblad Expedition shore staff will provide interpretation of the sites and ensure that all passengers adhere to a strict look but do not touch and leave no trace policies. Their staff have years of experience traveling in protected areas around the world and will abide by all guidelines any governing agencies, HTO and communities have for visits to these sites if feasible. Site visits are planned to be between a half day and a full day in length and may be shortened or cancelled due to bad weather or environmental conditions. Risk assessments will be completed before every activity. The ship operations and the landings and activities of passengers at the sites listed are expected to have no more than minor or transitory impacts on the environment.We are a Member of the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO, www.aeco.no) and will follow the association’s operational and wildlife guidelines. We will also follow Government of Nunavut’s Code of Conduct for Operators in Nunavut and the government’s recommendations for operating around polar bears as provided by Cruise Nunavut. In addition, we have our own operational procedures for Zodiac and kayak operations as well as a Polar Bear and Bear Safety Plan.