Early morning found National Geographic Explorer at what will undoubtedly be her furthest north point of sail so far in 2014. At just over 80° north the ship came less than 600nm from the North Pole! Turning to head back south along Lomfjorden we stop to admire and drift along the face of Alkefjellet, the largest bird nesting cliff in the area. With literally hundreds of thousands of birds, mostly Brünnich’s guillemots, but also glaucous gulls, black-legged kittiwakes, northern fulmars, and black guillemots the sight and sound are simply overwhelming!
But wait…what is that little brown and white animal sprinting from ice floe to ice floe under the cliff and beneath the cacophony of all those birds? Closer inspection identifies the small frenetic creature to be an arctic fox, just emerging from its winter white coat into its summer brown coloration. The fox darts here and there and seemingly everywhere as it easily leaps from land to floating ice and back again. At one point a large glaucous gull actually dive bombs the fox, but it manages to escape unscathed. The fox must feel that it is raining manna from heaven as eggs, and even an occasional bird, fall from the narrow ledges above, only to become an early fox lunch.
Our own lunch treat came just before the announcement of the meal itself, as an adult polar bear was spotted walking on first-year sea ice far in front of the ship. Hats, parkas, and gloves were quickly donned and cameras and binoculars readied for deployment as we shuffled out, each to our favorite viewing platform on deck. Our walking bear chose to lay down behind an ice hummock and seemed as if it might snooze the afternoon away, but just as we had decided to turn and leave it decided to walk directly towards the ship and see just what we were all about. Cameras clicked and whirred as hundreds of gigabytes of photos were seemingly instantaneously captured. Our bear was the perfect subject, turning this way and that, and it finally had enough of the bear paparazzi, or deciding we weren’t going to turn into a meal, it turned and walked away across the ice.
Afternoon found us in the presence of one of the Arctic’s absolute iconic animals: walrus! Mostly it is the males who choose to haul out onto the beach here on the southwest side of Nordauslandet, but this afternoon we are treated to a rare sighting indeed, a mother and her 2-year-old calf, bobbing in the surf just off shore. The modified canine teeth of the calf have not even erupted yet. Along with about 15 or so adult males, each over a ton in weight turns this afternoon truly into a blubber lover’s delight!
Just when it seems safe to try and get a little rest after dinner, Captain Oliver Kruess takes us through the very narrow Heleysundet, the passage between Kükenthaløya and Spitsbergen, then on past Barentsøya on our port side. With the wind behind us and the sun still high in the evening sky it is the perfect end to yet another perfect Arctic day! Stay tuned for tomorrow as we head further south…
