Southwest Spitsbergen & Bellsund
The day began with a sighting of white-beaked dolphins which we encountered along the deepening waters of the west Spitsbergen coast. Not unexpectedly we then came upon a feeding area where the second largest cetacean in the North Atlantic, fin whales, were busy obtaining their daily tonnage of fish and crustaceans. Minkes, the smaller of the baleen whales, were also seen as we worked our way south in the relatively warm waters of the west Spitsbergen current.
Bellsund opened its foggy portal to two long arms of the sea Van Mijen and Van Keulen fiords, Dutch names that are reminders of the long-forgotten days of commercial whaling for the now rarely seen Bowhead whale.
A long walk over the fog shrouded ground ended at a trappers cabin which is still being used by residents of Svalbard. Along the beach we found piles of beluga whale bones left over from the hunts of this small arctic toothed whale.
Belugas, or white whales, were hunted for blubber, but more importantly for their skin which produces a high quality leather. Because of their habit of staying in large groups and using areas of river mouths where the warmer freshwater helps them molt, they were easily found and over harvested.
The site we visited was a place where they were driven along the coast and pushed into a trap formed of fishing nets tethered to the shore and anchored at the seaward end. The impressive piles of bones give testimony to the efficiency and devastating impact of man on yet another creature of the ocean.
