Hinlopen Strait
This morning we awoke aboard National Geographic Explorer off the northeast corner of Spitsbergen Island and the bird cliffs of Cape Fanshawe. Making a slow approach the babel of the birds grew louder as we grew closer to their ledge and cradle. Thousands of Brunich’s guillemots, also known as thick billed murres, make the dark dolerite cliffs come to life with sheer presence and their abundance is testament to the teeming life beneath the surface of the sea. It is because of the rich marine life here that thousands of seabirds make this their summer home and without the base line of plankton and krill that feed the polar cod these waters would be a desert, like the tierra firme that surround them. Perfect morning light and a calm Hinlopen Strait made for ideal conditions at Alkefjellet (Mount Guillemot). We observed diving seabirds flying underwater and watched them land in crowded real estate on the cliffs of the cape. The story of their fledging chicks is quite remarkable and must be quite a sight to see when 21-day-old birds jump off the narrow ledges to their fathers calling below. Not yet endowed with the ability to fly with grace, they follow their fathers (who are soon to be flightless through molting) and head towards their wintering grounds off the coast of Greenland, Iceland, and the Barents Sea.
Rounding the bend after breakfast we entered Lomfjorden and were greeted by a group of walrus lying adrift on ice. It never ceases to amaze us how such a large ship can sneak up on the charismatic mega fauna that makes these latitudes so special. Leaving their thigmotactic comforts on the ice these massive tusked pinnipeds proceeded to put on quite a show as their curious nature provided close views of their agility in the water. Further down the fjord it was decided that calm conditions were ideal for kayaking so we dropped all watercraft for activities into Fakesevagen (Fakse Bay, named after horse in Norse mythology). Cruising upon windless waters we rewarded with the amazing geologic backdrop of this corner of the archipelago; curious black guillemots and a baby seal. Another amazing day in the high Arctic…only ten degrees south of the North Pole!
