We left Bear Island last night during the early evening, steaming due south on a glassy Barents Sea. In the later evening the western horizon turned a brilliant orange as the sun made its pendulum swing along the sea's surface, hinting to darkness that we were making our way south. Yet, as far south as we've come from Svalbard, it will still be a couple of days before we actually experience "night."
We awoke to continuing calm seas and Bud's voice announcing whales on the horizon! Large pectoral flippers slapping the water, as the whale lolled at the surface, identifying them as humpbacks. Quite a show they put on for us, along with a healthy handful of white-beaked dolphins.
In the afternoon, we reached Fugloya -- or Bird Island -- pictured here. Appropriately named, Fugloya is the nesting site for some 200,000 breeding pairs of puffins. Also abundant are the white-tailed sea eagles, with healthy populations in this part of the world but not so in most of its range. So it was quite a treat to get such fantastic views.
This photo was taken from the foredeck of our ship. We also took the Zodiacs for a cruise along this scenic coast.
