Torellneset & Wahlenberg Fjorden
Today was my kind of day! It is such a great treat to come up to a remote and beautiful place and have chance to see what the day will bring.
In the morning we landed at Torellneset, a walrus haul out site. There was a small group of male walruses resting on the beach. We slowly walked up the hill and looked out over the seals. A couple of animals swam along the beach before coming ashore to rest. It was an incredible opportunity to see these massive animals, which can weigh over 4,000 pounds, in their natural habitat.
In the late afternoon we cruised into Wahlenberg Fjorden and encountered a fantastic surprise. Narwhals are true creatures of the Arctic ice but rarely encountered during our trips around Svalbard. The first sighting was of a female with a very young calf of the year and they swam right next to the ship.
Narwhals are medium sized animals that do not have a dorsal fin and can be very hard to see in the water. We searched for quite a while and then eventually had a sighting of a small group of six to ten animals swimming right against the shoreline. It is not often we see Narwhals around Svalbard, as the majority of the populations are found in the Canadian and Greenland side of the Arctic. We did not see any tusks, which are more common in males, and so we thought this was a group of females with calves.
It was a new life species for me and reminded me why I love to be able to have the chance to spend time in such a wonderful part of the world!
