Not long after we started
some activities with the young explorers, the Bridge reported blows from fin
whales in the distance. It seems
that every time we get together with the kids, we get a sighting. Thankfully, most of the kids are as
excited as “the teachers” to go and check it out. I knew that the ship had headed out to the drop-off (edge of
continental shelf) on our way back to Longyearbyen. This is where upwelling occurs in which cold currents from
the deep are forced upwards by the slope of the drop-off, carrying with it
nutrients to support the ocean food chain. It is a great feeding ground for whales, but I didn’t get my
hopes up as I figured that would be just too greedy. This time, by the time I found a spot on the bow to view the
whales, they were pretty close. We
again started with Fin whales (2nd largest whales) but it was more
obvious that there were two of them.
I have some pictures of them swimming side by side. And, just like last time, a Blue whale
swam near the ship. This one only
fluked 2-3 times, but it hung with the ship for quite a long time and gave us
many views of its enormous back. I
cannot believe that I started and ended my expedition with the largest mammal,
the incredible Blue Whale!
Two Fin Whales.
Blue Whale with its tiny fin.
More of the Blue Whale's big back.
Blue whale starting to curve its back.
Fluke is just starting to raise out of the water.
Fluke up higher
See the water run off of the fluke.
Fluke is going down...
and down.
End of Day 7 Tomorrow we will disembark in Longyearbyen and begin our travel back home.
We went ashore (in a zodiac, of course) at Engelsbukta, English Bay, for one last hike before
heading back towards Longyearbyen.
Katie, Harmony and I (we have been referred to as “The Teachers”
throughout the week) chose the 4 mile hike. There were many reindeer on the hillside grazing and a large
flock of barnacle geese took to flight.
They looked a lot like a flock of Canadian Geese flying overhead back home. Not far into our hike, one group of
reindeer moved closer to us. We
all just stopped and kept still as the reindeer moved closer and closer to
us. One of the younger ones kept
looking right at us like he was trying to figure out who/what we were and if he
could trust us. He came within 20
feet of our group. By the way,
Rudolph and the male reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh need to be renamed. Male reindeer (caribou) shed their rack
in November or early December after they have attracted a female and
mated. Females keep their antlers
until January as they use them to help dig in the snow to find food. Thus, only female reindeer would have
had antlers when pulling Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve.
Barnacle geese flew off as we started our hike.
Barnacle geese in flight.
Reindeer grazing.
Curious reindeer checks us out...
and comes even closer.
Glacier and peaks are also part of the beautiful scenery.
This part of Svalbard was greener than many of our last few
hikes. We are now back on the West
coast of Spitsbergen where the warm waters of the gulf stream impact what can
survive here. We ended our hike
with another look at a fox trap and a trappers cabin. Apparently, people still rent out cabins like this one for a
vacation. Pretty rustic.
Melt water stream
Fox trap.
Trapper's cabin.
More purple saxifrage on the tundra. This has been on every hike.
The "Teachers" (Katie, Harmony & Julia) on our last hike.
After dinner, the ship neared Moffen Island (also known as
Walrus Island) that was teaming with walrus. Most were hauled out on the beach, but there were quite a
few swimming and surfing in the waves. Some even swam right up near the bow of the ship. They are so huge and clumsy on land, but fairly graceful in the water. It seems odd that they choose
to lay in a heap, overlapping their enormous bodies. I can’t imagine how
heavy and hot that would be. I had
never heard the term “haul out” before coming to the Arctic. The next time I see a
bunch of people laying in the sun on a beach, I am going to call it a “human
haul out.”
Holy cow!After
we left the bears, we moved further into Woodfjorden to view Monacobreen glacier (mapped by the
Prince of Monaco 1906-7).So
beautiful, but its massiveness wasn’t apparent until the ship was right up
next to it.Magnificent in the way the light hit it. I learned that the ice that appears blue in color is the most dense. Over time, it has squeezed out air, making it more dense than the surrounding ice. This causes it to absorb all colors of light except for blue, which is reflected.
Before long, a message from the bridge
stated that there were Belugas swimming in front of the glacier.Sure enough, we were able to observe about 8 belugas swimming back and forth along the glacier. This is just one more amazing event that I was
privileged to witness and the setting, Beluga whales against a massive glacier,
was idyllic.
The light hitting the glacier and the water was gorgeous.
Healthy bear in the distance walking away. Sick bear in the foreground, not moving.
When we arrived at Woodfjorden, two bears were spotted on
land and the ship moved in for a better view.One bear walked away and behind the island.The other bear was laying still and he
looked like a rock or piece of dirty ice.I could only tell it was a polar bear when it lifted its head.It was a sick bear. When I looked at his
face, he looked so sad.
We took the zodiac for a land excursion to Mossellaguna
(lagoon) where there is a trapper's cabin and the remains of Nordenskiold’s
1872-73 Arctic Expedition. The
beach was covered in kelp and other algae. This was excellent evidence that the Arctic has green—has to
have it—life depends on it. I now believe
I have seen all of the birds in Svalbard by finding red-throated divers (loons)
and a purple sandpiper on today’s hike.
This lagoon also had many kittiwakes, glaucous gulls, red phalaropes, snow
bunting and eider ducks. When
walking around the back of the trappers cabin, we found fresh polar bear
tracks. On the way back, we saw
our first Arctic Fox (in its summer coat) and, though it was far away, I
managed to get quite a few pictures. When Kenneth, our guide and naturalist, spotted the
pair of loons he said, “You’re welcome” as we had a couple with us that have
been waiting the whole trip to see the loons. Kenneth then asked, “What else would you like?” I yelled out Belugas. I have been privileged to witness such
a stunning range of Arctic wildlife, why not hope for even more (greedy!)
Seaweed washed up on the beach.
You will have to look hard to see the fox on the snow in the middle of the picture.
Kittiwakes
Arctic Tern
Red Phalarope
Eider Ducks
Heather
Moss Campion (compass plant due to difference in growth S to N)
Smart early whalers/trappers ate this Scurvy Grass to prevent this life threatening disease.
Reindeer Lichen
Trapper's Cabin
Katie and I in front of the Trapper's Cabin.
Platform made to keep seal (meant to feed sled dogs) away from polar bears.
Fresh polar bear print behind the Trapper's Cabin.
