Hamburgbukta / At Sea
A week of wonderful weather continues this morning as we approach the western coastline of Spitzbergen, Svalbard’s largest island. Buffeted to the west by the relatively warm north Atlantic current this side of the archipelago receives little sea ice and allows us access to place names like Hamburgbukta. As the name suggests the Germans who set up camp here were from Hamburg, and, as the date suggests, mid 1600’s, this was the peak of the whaling era in the north Atlantic. A morning of hikes revealed Hamburgbukta’s layered history as German, Norwegian, and Russian Pomor remains are littered along the shoreline. In addition to an era of healthy whale populations in this area the presence of over a million Dovkies (scree nesting seabirds related to puffins) may have drawn the whalers to this spot. Well, at least their eggs. Dovkie eggs and the relatively protected bay where we were able to land.
With a carpet of mosses and lichens that would make a temperate rain forest jealous this location simply teems with life. With a conspicuous lack of reindeer the moss has taken hold of everything, providing a patchwork of soft greenery between the lichen covered rocks. This growth most be further inspired by the multitude of birds that have made this stretch of coast their official fly zone and seasonal home. Nestled into tiny cracks in lower and upper slopes alike a million pairs of tiny Dovkies did their best to resemble a cloud of insects as they circled above, going to and from their burrows. Adding to the mass of life was a scattering of barnacle geese, snow bunting (small black and white song birds) and harbor seals to keep the Zodiac cruisers company.
With the afternoon at our disposal, along with the expanse of the Arctic Ocean to our west, we motored off shore this afternoon in search of less abundant yet much larger life forms. It only takes a couple hours before the shallow shelf waters of Svalbard slide off into the incredible depths of the Arctic. Where this shelf starts so too does the action. With incredible amounts of water coursing north and south, then running into contact with a landmass like Svalbard, something must give. In our case it was upwelling. An upwelling of nutrients, food and life that brings the big boys—whales. We motored south along this “drop-off” and were rewarded with looks at the second largest animal on the planet—the fin whale. Keeping pace with these 60-70 ft. creatures is not easy for many ships but we were able to, with the help of good visibility, find and cruise with nearly a dozen of these whales throughout the afternoon.
With the sun reflecting off the grey surface of the sea and six days of memories still fresh in our minds we motored towards the perpetual sun of summer and towards our final destination, Longyearbyen.
