Isfjord, Spitsbergen
To understand the Arctic you have to experience it firsthand. Words and photographs struggle to convey the overwhelming feeling of wildness in the far north. High above the Arctic Circle just over 600 miles from the North Pole, this is the land of the Midnight Sun, where the sun never sets during summer. Indeed, this 3-week voyage from Norway’s Svalbard archipelago to the Frans Joseph Land in Russia will be one long continuous day, and a dream come true for all of us.
After leaving Longyearbyen and pushing through pack ice to reach open water, National Geographic Explorer makes good time rounding the southern tip of Spitsbergen, Svalbard’s largest island. Emerging from the fog, ice-cloaked peaks are revealed as the ship anchors in Isfjord. Spreading out before us are massive tidewater glaciers stretching as far as the eye can see. Svalbard is still trapped in the ice age. Luckily, conditions are perfect for a Zodiac cruise along the imposing terminus of the glacier.
Ice, rock, and sky define the morning. Towers of ice frame the pointed mountains of Spitsbergen on the skyline. We see layers of rock standing vertically on end, thrusted upward over eons of tectonic activity. Cruising slowly, we hear brash ice crackling and popping as compressed air bubbles trapped between snowflakes centuries ago are released, a phenomenon called bergy selzer or “ice crispies.” Now and then huge chunks of ice crash into the sea, reverberating like cannon shots. Kittiwakes, guillemots, and arctic terns feed along the glacier front where upwelling meltwater currents bring food to the surface. The arctic tern is champion flyer of them all, migrating from the Artic to the Antarctica each year and seeing more daylight than any other animal on Earth. Meanwhile, the predatory glaucous gull patrols the airspace looking for any opportunity for a meal.
It was near the end of dinner that the call is made, “polar bears ahead.” Although it was a distant sighting of two bears on land, it ramps up the energy for what will certainly be an epic adventure in the days ahead. Continuing our search for wildlife in the icy wilderness of Hinlopen Strait on Svalbard’s east side, the ship is escorted by ivory gulls as shafts of sunlight dance among the ice floes.
It’s well after midnight before many of us turned in for the “night,” proof that polar fever is contagious.
