Fjords, birds and reindeer
It’s been a busy few days sailing in and out of fjords as we head north towards the sea-ice in our search for polar bears.
On Saturday evening (2 June) we left Longyearbyen very late with new passengers, including Sue Flood (see her website HERE), our guest photographer alongside Cindy Hopkins. I sailed with Sue on the Kapitan Khlebnikov in 2009/10 in the Antarctic (see my blog posts HERE) – it is wonderful to see her again.
Sunday (3 June) we made our way to Lilliehookfjorden and its glacier. As with most mornings, the clouds were low and the sun was well hidden. This changed as we sailed deep into the fjord with its huge mountains on either side, all carrying snow amongst their craggy rocky faces. Small glaciers squeezed out from between some of the mountains, but there were few icebergs coming from them – all are receding.
By the time we reached Lilliehook glacier, the sun was shining, the clouds were lifting above the mountains and the foot of the glacier, where it falls into the sea, was high above us. Fingers and towers of ice protruded up, with beautiful shades of deep blues, lighter blues and whites.
Annie, one of our guides, told us that she could see a Bearded seal lying on a small chunk of ice – it was far away, and all I could see was a longish black shape, even with my 400mm lens. These are beautiful animals – the photo at the very top of this trip’s blog is a Bearded seal that I photographed in this same place in 2012.
I was at the back of the ship where there is great viewing, often less crowded than the Bridge, and closer to the water line. We heard loud “booms” coming from inside the glacier, and saw small chunks of ice carved off, sliding into the sea to create “bergy bits.” With the sun shining directly onto it, eventually larger pieces broke away, changing the face of this glacier for ever. It is always fun to capture this happening, and l look forward to sharing the photos when we’re back in internet contact.
All too soon, it was time to move to our next stop, the 14th July Glacier. This had been a very, very large glacier but has also been receding – in fact the ship anchored well inside the area that was once filled with ice.
A note about glaciers: they move their huge rivers of ice and rock towards the sea, trapping anything in their way, and carving U-shaped valleys. As they recede, the walls of the valleys are littered with gravel and rocks are left behind – this is the moraine. From the Zodiacs, it was amazing to see the moraine rising above us, clearly distinguishable from the cliffs that rise above them covered with grass and with different layers of rock.
The cliffs are home to various birds. We could clearly see geese and fulmar flying in and out, and reindeer grazing amongst them. At one point we spotted an Arctic fox on the hunt for goose eggs – he managed to grab one and race off with it. My photos are blurred!
Once back on the ship, we sailed further down the fjord, through glassy water, watching Kittiwakes and Guillemots sit calmly on the water, or take to the sky as we sailed a little close. This late afternoon sail was an absolute joy – calm and peaceful.
Monday 4 June 2018: we went further north to Smeerenburgfjorden, a historic site that was once a massive whale processing location – it was known as “blubber town.” Now the sandy spit of land there had housed 200 people, has remnants of the firepits used to melt the blubber – it is hard to imagine all this activity in this small area. Now it is low-lying sand with logs of wood washed up, and an old wheel barrow on its side below a channel marker. Rather cutely, its rusty wheel has been replaced by an orange ball, a float from fishing nets.
Fuglefjorden was our afternoon stop – time to take to the Zodiacs and see what we could find. Woody, our Expedition Leader, was the “driver” and his first question was “would you like to see the glacier first, or explore.” Without hesitation I said “explore” – another person agreed – everyone else was silent. So off we went on our exploration of this area.
There are so many coves and bays that the ship can’t reach but zodiacs can. From the ship we can see small islands, but we can’t see what’s behind them – but in zodiacs we can. Who knows what we might find – and of course, a key purpose of this trip is to find polar bear.
We went in and around small islands, and followed the coast into neighbouring bays. Loads of tracks were clearly visible, some definitely polar bear, others possibly from Arctic fox and geese. In one bay we found a small glacier – the water in front of it was clear and shallow enough to see the rocks on the bottom.
Guillemots dotted the water, mostly ignoring us – geese flew by, honking loudly. We passed an old hut that has been restored and is used by researchers – more polar bear tracks, but no bears to be seen.
We were supposed to be out for 1.5 hours, but soon Woody was letting the ship and other zodiacs know that this could be a 2 hour cruise. It was fun to be out there! On our way back to the ship we could see Arctic tern flying above an island – such graceful, sleek and beautiful birds. Capturing these in flight is a challenge at the best of times – from a moving zodiac I thought it would be impossible, particularly looking straight up. Nailed it! This camera is amazing!
This morning, 5 June 2018: we’ve been sailing fast overnight, in reasonably bumpy conditions. We are aiming to get as far north as possible so that we can be amongst the sea-ice. Woody showed us the ice-c harts last night – it really is a long way north and the ice is amongst the lowest it’s been in many, many years.
Polar bears hunt for their preferred food, Ringed seals, from sea-ice. However if they can’t find or reach seals, they will eat other things such as birds eggs and kelp. The reason we’ve looked for them in areas without sea ice, is that they will often sleep and conserve energy away from the ice, particularly during the summer when the ice is low.
Let’s see what we can find today.