Hinlopen Straits, between the islands of Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet, Svalbard
During the night we rounded the northern tip of the island of Spitsbergen, in the process passing above 80º North Latitude; we were within 600 nautical miles of the North Pole. We then turned south, down Hinlopen Straits. Ralph’s 6:00 AM (really!) wake-up call came as we were off of Cape Fanshawe to view an incredible seabird colony with hordes of black and white thick-billed murres (in Europe they are called Brünich’s guillemots) nesting on narrow ledges of a vertical rock cliff.
We continued down Hinlopen Straits, intending a landing on Nordaustlandet. Our landing was made more attractive when we found a large group of walrus on the beach near the intended landing site, hauled out in a thigmotactic heap (each animal in contact with several neighbors). And then the prospect of a landing was made much less attractive by the discovery of a polar bear just above the beach. We yield to polar bears. Our walrus watching was done by Zodiac. Several walrus came out to watch us and demonstrate their graceful agility in the water.
Most of Nordaustlandet is covered by a massive ice cap that reaches the sea in vertical ice cliffs along the island’s south and east coasts. Our day closed with a visit to the ice cliffs. Melt water pours off of the ice cap in a series of gushing waterfalls, seen tonight by the light of the midnight sun through falling snow and slush.
During the night we rounded the northern tip of the island of Spitsbergen, in the process passing above 80º North Latitude; we were within 600 nautical miles of the North Pole. We then turned south, down Hinlopen Straits. Ralph’s 6:00 AM (really!) wake-up call came as we were off of Cape Fanshawe to view an incredible seabird colony with hordes of black and white thick-billed murres (in Europe they are called Brünich’s guillemots) nesting on narrow ledges of a vertical rock cliff.
We continued down Hinlopen Straits, intending a landing on Nordaustlandet. Our landing was made more attractive when we found a large group of walrus on the beach near the intended landing site, hauled out in a thigmotactic heap (each animal in contact with several neighbors). And then the prospect of a landing was made much less attractive by the discovery of a polar bear just above the beach. We yield to polar bears. Our walrus watching was done by Zodiac. Several walrus came out to watch us and demonstrate their graceful agility in the water.
Most of Nordaustlandet is covered by a massive ice cap that reaches the sea in vertical ice cliffs along the island’s south and east coasts. Our day closed with a visit to the ice cliffs. Melt water pours off of the ice cap in a series of gushing waterfalls, seen tonight by the light of the midnight sun through falling snow and slush.
