6/22/2012 Friday
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!)
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| Seaweed washed up on the beach. |
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| You will have to look hard to see the fox on the snow in the middle of the picture. |
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| Kittiwakes |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Red Phalarope |
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| Eider Ducks |
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| Heather |
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| Moss Campion (compass plant due to difference in growth S to N) |
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| Smart early whalers/trappers ate this Scurvy Grass to prevent this life threatening disease. |
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| Reindeer Lichen |
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| Trapper's Cabin |
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| Katie and I in front of the Trapper's Cabin. |
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| Platform made to keep seal (meant to feed sled dogs) away from polar bears. |
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| Fresh polar bear print behind the Trapper's Cabin. |
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| Beautiful. |
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| Peaceful. |
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| Remains of Nordenskiold’s 1872 hut. |
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!)
So much less ice pack then when I was there in July 2010. The sick bear makes me very sad. Great shots of belugas. You were lucky to see so many.
ReplyDeleteI believe that what we are seeing on these expeditions (and showing in our pictures) is providing evidence for what the ice charts are showing--the ice in the Arctic is disappearing. In fact, when we headed through Hinlopen Strait, our leader announced that we usually can't venture as far as we did that early in the summer. Not good news. Thanks for checking out my blog.
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