After a very full day of cruising and looking for wildlife through and around the sea ice, and a wonderful after-dinner Zodiac cruise, the National Geographic Explorer lifted its anchor early this morning and continued our explorations of Storfjord. Our destination was the west side of Edgeoya Island on the eastern side of the fjord. We were hoping to find a safe, and relatively snow-free area, to go ashore for some morning hikes right after breakfast. Just before breakfast a scout boat was sent out to investigate the proposed landing site for access, and for possible polar bear activity. It was soon clear that the landing was possible, but fog and low clouds were almost surrounding us, and we would have to monitor the conditions before making a final decision.
Luckily, it looked like the weather was on our side and it would be a clear morning, so it wasn’t long before the Zodiacs were in the water, staff were heading ashore, and the guests were given the signal to get ready! Our fleet of Zodiacs were soon bringing groups of excited guests to the landing area to be organized into different categories of hiking parties; long, medium, short and a photo hike. The sun was shining, the wind was calm, and we were again able to have our feet on land to further explore this incredibly wild country!
There was a lot to see as we walked over the snow and moist tundra, including a variety of birds, purple sandpipers, snow buntings, barnacle geese, long-tailed ducks and common eiders. But the animal that stole the show was the Svalbard reindeer, with their stocky bodies and short legs. They are a smaller cousin to the reindeer of Scandinavia, and the caribou of northern North America.
In general these amazing creatures are very curious, and also very trusting of human presence, so almost everyone was able to get a really good, and close up, look at largest of the land mammals in Svalbard!
Finally it was time to head back to the ship for lunch, and start our move back toward the west coast of Spitsbergen. The fog started to engulf us again, so it was a perfect time to listen to a few more lectures as we cruised through the poor visibility and the sea ice. Another great day around one of the northernmost land masses on our planet!
