Nordaustlandet and Hinlopen Strait
This morning, before breakfast was over, we had (yet again) a new and exciting sighting. Two walrus and a calf were sighted swimming near the ship. The calf, dark brown and tusk-less, stayed right with its mother. It was fascinating to watch the close contact that the mother and calf had with each other, often touching, as they swam along together and the mother seeming to push the calf along as well. As we continued along we saw we saw more pinnipeds — a bearded seal on ice and another walrus on ice too.
A little while later we reached the furthest east point in our trip, the south shore of Nordaustlandet (“Northeast Land”). Nordaustlandet, the second largest island in Svalbard, also has another claim to fame. It has the third largest ice cap in the world following Antarctica and Greenland. More than three-quarters of the island is covered by ice. We spent our morning appreciating its beauty as the captain maneuvered the ship along part of the 150 km long ice cliff at the southern edge of the island. The calm water, blue ice, steep wall and beautiful reflections were stunning and kept us on deck taking in the scenery and taking many, many more photos.
The sea ice in the area, flat and low in comparison to the vertical edge of the ice cap, looked like jigsaw puzzle pieces. We could see how it all had recently fit together into one continuous sheet, another reminder of how recently the waters we were cruising had been covered with continuous sheet of annual ice. Even though it is June, winter gives up its hold slowly here. As we continued on our way south, Sisse Brimberg and Cotton Colson, our National Geographic photographers, shared amazing photos, associated stories and tips to give us inspiration for how to compose better photos and tell a story with our pictures.
After lunch we reached our southernmost point in the Hinlopen Strait. At this time of year it is not possible to go around Spitsbergen due to the lingering sea ice. It was, however, well worth the trip south since it seems to be a favorite hangout for polar bears! The excitement on the bridge was clear from the excited directions being given to each new arrival as we spotted two then four then five bears in the distance. They started out as cream colored spots, and with patient slow approach by the captain they became resting, walking and running polar bears. Although these bears were not like the up close looks that we had yesterday, we could still watch their behaviors through our binoculars and spotting scopes. By the end of the afternoon and much dedicated searching we had added 9 more bears to our tally for the week!
