Hornsund, Spitsbergen
A misty morning greeted us in Hornsund on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the main island in the Svalbard archipelago. We were at anchor by breakfast and the fog slowly cleared, revealing our destination for the morning.
We landed at Gnålnoden below sheer cliffs that support a plethora of breeding seabirds. The droppings from this colony fertilise an otherwise nutrient-poor soil, resulting in luxuriant vegetation by Arctic standards. An oasis such as this is a focal point for a diverse range of visitors. The vegetation attracts grazing barnacle geese and reindeer, and early mariners would visit such sites to crop the vitamin C rich scurvy grass. Arctic foxes visit to predate geese and seabirds. Evidence of the importance of the site to hunters and trappers was found in the small hut at the foot of the cliffs were they would live while harvesting seabirds, reindeer and foxes. Today modern expeditioners and polar bear researchers visit to watch and study the abundance of Arctic wildlife.
After cruising Hornsund gazing at distant glaciers during lunch, we pulled into Samarinfjord in early afternoon. After dropping the anchor, a distant polar bear was sighted on the fast ice at the head of the fjord. The afternoon activities of Zodiac cruising and kayaking proceeded as planned giving closer views of the 60-metre ice cliffs where glaciers meet the sea. Upon departure, the bear was still visible on the ice so we edged up to the ice to take a closer look. As we did this, the bear decided to take a closer look at us. We waited with breath bated, to see how close he would approach. And he kept on coming closer, and closer, and closer. We were spellbound by the sight of an ice bear leaping from floe to floe within metres of the ship, curious but not concerned by the presence of this intruder in his icy domain. At one point, the bear even gently nuzzled the bow of the ship, as if trying to identify us by our scent. We were briefly distracted from the spectacle of the bear by yet another Arctic speciality when a pristine ivory gull flew overhead leaving us wondering where to look, eyes to the skies or the ice.
Exhilarated by our experience, we departed Hornsund and by early evening were steaming to deeper water to the west of Spitsbergen in search of whales. However, the fog closed in leaving us with a grey, blank vista, but even this could not dampen our high spirits and recollections of a day that will last a lifetime.
A misty morning greeted us in Hornsund on the west coast of Spitsbergen, the main island in the Svalbard archipelago. We were at anchor by breakfast and the fog slowly cleared, revealing our destination for the morning.
We landed at Gnålnoden below sheer cliffs that support a plethora of breeding seabirds. The droppings from this colony fertilise an otherwise nutrient-poor soil, resulting in luxuriant vegetation by Arctic standards. An oasis such as this is a focal point for a diverse range of visitors. The vegetation attracts grazing barnacle geese and reindeer, and early mariners would visit such sites to crop the vitamin C rich scurvy grass. Arctic foxes visit to predate geese and seabirds. Evidence of the importance of the site to hunters and trappers was found in the small hut at the foot of the cliffs were they would live while harvesting seabirds, reindeer and foxes. Today modern expeditioners and polar bear researchers visit to watch and study the abundance of Arctic wildlife.
After cruising Hornsund gazing at distant glaciers during lunch, we pulled into Samarinfjord in early afternoon. After dropping the anchor, a distant polar bear was sighted on the fast ice at the head of the fjord. The afternoon activities of Zodiac cruising and kayaking proceeded as planned giving closer views of the 60-metre ice cliffs where glaciers meet the sea. Upon departure, the bear was still visible on the ice so we edged up to the ice to take a closer look. As we did this, the bear decided to take a closer look at us. We waited with breath bated, to see how close he would approach. And he kept on coming closer, and closer, and closer. We were spellbound by the sight of an ice bear leaping from floe to floe within metres of the ship, curious but not concerned by the presence of this intruder in his icy domain. At one point, the bear even gently nuzzled the bow of the ship, as if trying to identify us by our scent. We were briefly distracted from the spectacle of the bear by yet another Arctic speciality when a pristine ivory gull flew overhead leaving us wondering where to look, eyes to the skies or the ice.
Exhilarated by our experience, we departed Hornsund and by early evening were steaming to deeper water to the west of Spitsbergen in search of whales. However, the fog closed in leaving us with a grey, blank vista, but even this could not dampen our high spirits and recollections of a day that will last a lifetime.
