The passengers woke to blue skies, sunshine and the most amazing vista – looking into Bellsund fjord along the west coast of Svalbard. The air was cool from the glaciers that skirted the coastline in this, one of the largest fjord systems of the archipelago. The options for the passengers were to either take one of the long, medium or short hikes; or alternatively, to take a Zodiac cruise along the coast. The landing went smoothly and the warm temperatures in the sunshine were welcomed by most. The scree slopes of the mountains were full of the warbling and screeching little auks or dovekies that use the nooks and crannies of the scree to nest and raise their chicks. All witnessed the noise and beautiful flight of the dovekie, particularly when the colony was flown over by the marauding glaucous gulls. The noise of the dovekies was interspersed with the cries of the Kittiwakes and the honking of both the Barnacle Goose and Pink-footed Goose, who also nest on the cliffs and cliff tops.
The coastline here is also home to Svalbard reindeer and polar bears. We saw plenty of the former but none of the latter. The ground was littered with the antlers shed by the reindeer over many, many years, if not generations. The reindeer still had their winter coats, so on this warm day, they were to be found lying down on the remaining patches of snow to cool down. Everyone was keeping their eyes glued to the scree slopes of the mountainsides in the hope of catching a glimpse of the very elusive Arctic fox. Alas, every panicked flight and cries of the dovekies merely alerted us to the presence of glaucous gulls or Arctic skuas (parasitic jaegers) rather than our quarry.
The afternoon was spent out along the shelf edge as we sailed north searching for cetaceans. The conditions were perfect: overcast with little wind. A couple of sperm whales were sighted in the distance, but the mammals dove before the ship could reach them. As they can dive for up to one hour, it was decided to push on and onwards for Longyearbyen.
