Krossfjorden, Spitsbergen
After traveling from Bellsund during the night, we arrived at the beautiful Lilliehök-glacier. This glacier is well known for its scenic surroundings and impressive glacier front. This area is named after Prince Albert I of Monaco and his exploration and geographical surveys of the area during the early 1900s. After a very good breakfast, we got ready for an optional Zodiac cruise and kayak-paddling.
This fjord offers a great calving glacier, and gave us the opportunity to look at the details of the brash ice, growlers and bergy-bits floating around in the water after falling off the glacier. By looking at the different map surveys during the last 50 years, we can calculate that the glacier front has resided 0.8 miles from 1966-2000, and the last 8 years 0.6 miles. This means that the front has receded 3 times faster during the last 8 years, compared to the other periods that were measured.
During lunch we repositioned the ship and went for a hike in "Stefan's Garden". This birdcliff at the July 14 glacier, nests birds like Brunnichs guillemot, kittiwake, snow bunting, geese and a few puffins. The guano from the birds fertilize the ground, aiding in the area's rich plant life. After a good hike along the beach, we arrived at a glacier front standing on dry land. This gave us the opportunity to get closer to a tidal glacier than you normally can on a Zodiac. A walk in the rich tundra in Stefan's Garden gave us a chance to see some of the plant life that grows in the high arctic. Due to the strong winter that occurred in Svalbard last year, some of the plants have not bloomed yet. However we were still able to see how rich and diverse the flora can be so far north close to bird cliffs.
During dinner the ship repositioned one more time, so that after dinner we could take a short evening trip to see some walrus that had hauled out on Richardlaguna at Prins Karls Forland. A great view of those large marine mammals was attained, and with the right wind direction we could actually smell the animals before we saw them.
With all the experiences we had today, we are really looking forward to new and greater experiences tomorrow as we head further north.
After traveling from Bellsund during the night, we arrived at the beautiful Lilliehök-glacier. This glacier is well known for its scenic surroundings and impressive glacier front. This area is named after Prince Albert I of Monaco and his exploration and geographical surveys of the area during the early 1900s. After a very good breakfast, we got ready for an optional Zodiac cruise and kayak-paddling.
This fjord offers a great calving glacier, and gave us the opportunity to look at the details of the brash ice, growlers and bergy-bits floating around in the water after falling off the glacier. By looking at the different map surveys during the last 50 years, we can calculate that the glacier front has resided 0.8 miles from 1966-2000, and the last 8 years 0.6 miles. This means that the front has receded 3 times faster during the last 8 years, compared to the other periods that were measured.
During lunch we repositioned the ship and went for a hike in "Stefan's Garden". This birdcliff at the July 14 glacier, nests birds like Brunnichs guillemot, kittiwake, snow bunting, geese and a few puffins. The guano from the birds fertilize the ground, aiding in the area's rich plant life. After a good hike along the beach, we arrived at a glacier front standing on dry land. This gave us the opportunity to get closer to a tidal glacier than you normally can on a Zodiac. A walk in the rich tundra in Stefan's Garden gave us a chance to see some of the plant life that grows in the high arctic. Due to the strong winter that occurred in Svalbard last year, some of the plants have not bloomed yet. However we were still able to see how rich and diverse the flora can be so far north close to bird cliffs.
During dinner the ship repositioned one more time, so that after dinner we could take a short evening trip to see some walrus that had hauled out on Richardlaguna at Prins Karls Forland. A great view of those large marine mammals was attained, and with the right wind direction we could actually smell the animals before we saw them.
With all the experiences we had today, we are really looking forward to new and greater experiences tomorrow as we head further north.
