Hornsund
We awoke to a foggy morning in Hornsund, with the shrouded glaciers dipping their icy feet into the sea. After breakfast the Zodiacs left the ship for an exploration of the bay surrounded by the magnificent Samarin Glacier. First we sighted a bearded seal pup swimming his bearded puppy snout through the ice-filled waters. Following at a respectful distance the face of the glacier we encountered a swarm of kittiwakes and fulmars feeding and bathing in one of the several sub glacial rivers pouring out into the fjord.
A call on the radio alerted us to the presence of a swimming polar bear. A big old head with a time worn muzzle emerged from the water, looking around for the possibility of a seal meal, which might be resting on one of the floating pans of ice. One of our naturalists then announced he had found a dead polar bear cub on the shore. We retrieved the carcass, which was then frozen aboard and will be delivered to the Norwegian authorities in Longyearbyen. The cub was emaciated and had died at 3.5 months of age, shortly after emerging from its den in early April.
In the afternoon we visited the bird cliffs at Gnålodden. Kittiwakes, murres and glaucous gulls all nest there on the steep cliffs. On the beach nearby is a hunter’s cabin where, in the 50s, a famous polar bear hunter, Evar Rudd, killed a record number of bears in one winter. We reluctantly left the site, heading in our trusted zodiacs towards our ship- home on the National Geographic Endeavour, knowing that this was the last landing to be made on this memorable journey.
We awoke to a foggy morning in Hornsund, with the shrouded glaciers dipping their icy feet into the sea. After breakfast the Zodiacs left the ship for an exploration of the bay surrounded by the magnificent Samarin Glacier. First we sighted a bearded seal pup swimming his bearded puppy snout through the ice-filled waters. Following at a respectful distance the face of the glacier we encountered a swarm of kittiwakes and fulmars feeding and bathing in one of the several sub glacial rivers pouring out into the fjord.
A call on the radio alerted us to the presence of a swimming polar bear. A big old head with a time worn muzzle emerged from the water, looking around for the possibility of a seal meal, which might be resting on one of the floating pans of ice. One of our naturalists then announced he had found a dead polar bear cub on the shore. We retrieved the carcass, which was then frozen aboard and will be delivered to the Norwegian authorities in Longyearbyen. The cub was emaciated and had died at 3.5 months of age, shortly after emerging from its den in early April.
In the afternoon we visited the bird cliffs at Gnålodden. Kittiwakes, murres and glaucous gulls all nest there on the steep cliffs. On the beach nearby is a hunter’s cabin where, in the 50s, a famous polar bear hunter, Evar Rudd, killed a record number of bears in one winter. We reluctantly left the site, heading in our trusted zodiacs towards our ship- home on the National Geographic Endeavour, knowing that this was the last landing to be made on this memorable journey.
