Bellsund, Svalbard
What a wonderful day lay in store for us as we cruised into Bellsund , a large fjord system on the south end of Spitzbergen. The ancient rocks found here have been heavily scoured by glacial activity into a most impressive landscape backdrop. Some of these particular rock strata are over three million years old. The highest peaks have been weathered by freeze-thaw action causing angular fragments to crumble away and roll downslope to accumulate as fan shaped deposits, known as scree or talus, on the lower slopes. Little auks or dovekies use the scree for breeding purposes as it affords excellent protection from potential predators. These birds are found here in huge numbers. The Bellsund area has been the focus recently for archaeological investigations concerning the question as to whether Svalbard was settled by prehistoric hunter-gatherers in the distant past. A number of trial excavations in the late 1990’s failed to find diagnostic artifacts such as chert or flint flaked tools, hut remains or food refuse middens. The search continues.
Following breakfast we went ashore by zodiac and landed in a small cove known as Gasbergodden on the western tip of Van Mijenfjordan where we split into groups and in the company of our field naturalists explored this extremely rich High Arctic tundra. What jewels we found! An abundance of saxifrages were noted, mixed among a thick layer of verdant mosses—a veritable carpet. Flitting here and there on the rock outcrops we observed a number of snow buntings, the small songbird of the Arctic. One or two Arctic foxes were seen scanning the scree slopes on the lookout for young Brunnich’s guillemots who nest on the high ledges. To cap it all, we approached a group of six Svalbard reindeer. We stopped a good distance from them and to our astonishment they walked to within about twenty feet of us and continued to graze. On our way back to the Endeavour we gave a wide berth to numerous groups of Brunnich guillemots. This was a remarkable experience. The young birds had taken their first great leap of faith by bodily jumping from their nesting ledges and now, having safely landed on the water, were being prepared by the adult birds for their long journey out into the open sea where they would remain and mature over several years before returning to breed themselves.
In the afternoon we took zodiac rides along the coast of the fjord where we observed a female polar bear and her two seven-or-so-month-old cubs strolling across a scree slope high above the beach. Back on the ship we cruised far out to sea on the lookout for whales. Luck was again on our side. A group of fin whales swam past close to the Endeavour bringing our explorations of Svalbard to a wonderful end.
What a wonderful day lay in store for us as we cruised into Bellsund , a large fjord system on the south end of Spitzbergen. The ancient rocks found here have been heavily scoured by glacial activity into a most impressive landscape backdrop. Some of these particular rock strata are over three million years old. The highest peaks have been weathered by freeze-thaw action causing angular fragments to crumble away and roll downslope to accumulate as fan shaped deposits, known as scree or talus, on the lower slopes. Little auks or dovekies use the scree for breeding purposes as it affords excellent protection from potential predators. These birds are found here in huge numbers. The Bellsund area has been the focus recently for archaeological investigations concerning the question as to whether Svalbard was settled by prehistoric hunter-gatherers in the distant past. A number of trial excavations in the late 1990’s failed to find diagnostic artifacts such as chert or flint flaked tools, hut remains or food refuse middens. The search continues.
Following breakfast we went ashore by zodiac and landed in a small cove known as Gasbergodden on the western tip of Van Mijenfjordan where we split into groups and in the company of our field naturalists explored this extremely rich High Arctic tundra. What jewels we found! An abundance of saxifrages were noted, mixed among a thick layer of verdant mosses—a veritable carpet. Flitting here and there on the rock outcrops we observed a number of snow buntings, the small songbird of the Arctic. One or two Arctic foxes were seen scanning the scree slopes on the lookout for young Brunnich’s guillemots who nest on the high ledges. To cap it all, we approached a group of six Svalbard reindeer. We stopped a good distance from them and to our astonishment they walked to within about twenty feet of us and continued to graze. On our way back to the Endeavour we gave a wide berth to numerous groups of Brunnich guillemots. This was a remarkable experience. The young birds had taken their first great leap of faith by bodily jumping from their nesting ledges and now, having safely landed on the water, were being prepared by the adult birds for their long journey out into the open sea where they would remain and mature over several years before returning to breed themselves.
In the afternoon we took zodiac rides along the coast of the fjord where we observed a female polar bear and her two seven-or-so-month-old cubs strolling across a scree slope high above the beach. Back on the ship we cruised far out to sea on the lookout for whales. Luck was again on our side. A group of fin whales swam past close to the Endeavour bringing our explorations of Svalbard to a wonderful end.
