Hornsund
Our expedition began today with an all day exploration of Spitsbergen’s southernmost fjord, the spectacular, mountain-ringed Hornsund. This rugged, multi-armed, glacier-carved valley gave us an excellent introduction to the natural history of the Svalbard Archipelago. It is home to a wonderful variety of Arctic wildlife, shows off its fascinating geology in the steep mountainsides that sweep up out of the sea, and was the scene of several important episodes in the human history of the region.
After a pre-breakfast visit to the face of Storbreen, one of the huge rivers of ice that flow into Hornsund from the surrounding highlands, we spotted our first polar bear walking along a spit of dark moraine and then cruised out to near the entrance of the fjord for a landing at the towering cliff of Gnalberget. A visit to the historic trappers cabin gave us a chance to contemplate the lives of the men (and woman) who lived for years in this forbidding place, and while hiking along the rugged coast we encountered many of the beautifully adapted animals, including Arctic fox, gulls, murres and geese, that make their homes here.
In the afternoon we moved again, into the northern branch of Hornsund called Burgerbukta, which we explored by kayak and zodiac, watching for seals and Black Guillemots while wandering among the many beautifully sculptured icebergs calved from the glacier that dominated the north end of the bay.
While this topside exploration was proceeding, I took the opportunity to launch the ROV (remote operated vehicle, an un-manned submersible designed for deep sea studies) to take a look at the strange community of animals that live in the permanent darkness, freezing cold and tremendous pressure at the bottom of the fjord, 550 feet down.
It was a jewel of a day in Hornsund and everywhere we looked our eyes fell on another sparkling facet of this amazing Arctic archipelago.
