And Back Again to Svalbard
Wednesday 31 August - Friday 2 September 2022:
79°29'59.99"N, 10°29'59.99"E (MAP LINK)
Air temperature: -2°C to +4°C
Having walked around all Earth’s longitudes in under 60 seconds on Saturday 27th August, it was time to head south.
Although our original plan had been to follow the east Greenland coast to Scoresbysund, local politics intervened. As you know, on all landings in polar bear territory our guides always carry rifles, just in case. Ponant leases these from businesses in Svalbard, and it’s usually not a problem. However the local government has changed just their rules, and it was a requirement for these to be returned to Svalbard before we left for Greenland.
So back to Svalbard we sailed, arriving at Magdalene Fjord early last Wednesday. The weather was fine, it was beautiful sailing into the fjord, fulmars and puffins flying around and occasional fin whales showing their backs. The plan was to land on a small spit, walk around a point and see what we could find.
I was in one of the last groups to land, and so ended up with 45 minutes to go to the point and return – a good 20 minute walk each way. I made it to the point just as everyone was returning – so I walked back with them.
If you were to see a photo of me right now, you’d see a still very colourful bruise around my left eye and the remnants of a lump above my left eyebrow. This is what happened: on the way back, I decided to check out a ringed seal’s breathing hole just in case it was hiding down there – oh what one might do for a photo of a ringed seal. I knelt down and peered inside, just as the seal decided to exit – hitting me just above my left eye!
“Wow, that’s amazing” I hear you say. And it is – pure fantasy (although the Captain believed me when I told him this tale this morning). The reality is that I tripped over a rock and landed headfirst on a nice smooth Arctic rock. Just clumsy. Fortunately Ian was with me and able to reassure me that there was no blood spilled and a large lump was forming nicely.
As a note: please don’t try peering into any air hole in the Arctic – polar bears hunt there … because they love to eat ringed seals!
Back on the ship we found out that we’d need to stay for another day, and so the following day we went on to Fredheim, closer to Longyearbyen. It was nice walking along the rocky beach and taking photos of small plants, mosses and even one example of local fungi. Unfortunately the zodiacs were again just shuttling us back and forth between the shore and the ship – the massive glacier just around a point, was only seen from a distance. It seemed to be a lost opportunity for us to see a little more, but presumably the crew had their reasons.
Once back on board, and with the formal procedures completed, we were finally on our way to Greenland, with our first landing scheduled for Saturday. It was slightly choppy now, but very pleasant sailing on the Charcot – she is well designed, and the stabilisers worked very well. Even on the top deck it was very comfortable, although there were fewer people at dinner this evening.