Mossellaguna, Spitsbergen
First thing this morning we arrived at Mossellaguna, a site of much historic interest at the most northern tip of Spitsbergen. Although a stiff off shore breeze was blowing, the day looked full of promise with thin high clouds overhead and a surprisingly warm temperature. As we prepared to make our landing with the Zodiacs, a polar bear was observed from the ship, seen on shore, some way from our proposed landing sight but close enough to cause concern. Eventually the bear moved away and we went ashore.
What a rich and varied place to explore, Mossellaguna seems to have everything. The site was well known by the early whalers but was probably of limited use to them as the bay offers little protection to ships from wind and ice. The lagoon behind the rocky spit is too shallow for keel boats to enter. Baron Adolf Nordenskiold chose the exposed rocky headland at the end of the spit to build his expedition house in 1872. The ruins of this building are still there, remarkably well preserved considering how long they have been around. It was quite surprising to observe such high quality joinery used in the construction so long ago. It was also interesting to see the large pile of bags of reindeer lichen brought with this expedition to feed their reindeer. They had planned to use reindeer to drag their sledges in their attempt to reach the North Pole.
The long spit of loose rocks that joins the rocky knoll of Nordenskiold’s hut to the mainland seems to provide excellent habitat for many of Svalbard’s birds. Decomposing seaweed on the beach is home for all kinds of insect life that the purple sandpipers seems to find irresistible, the shallow waters of the lagoon behind the spit attract many Arctic terns that enjoy the apparently easy fishing here. Red phalarope were also numerous along the shore. A pair of red-throated divers had chosen one of the freshwater lakes just inland from the spit as their summer home. A large number of logs and other driftwood have been washed up along the spit posing many questions as to their origin and previous use.
Having walked from Nordenskiold’s hut to the other end of the spit we climbed up over a ridge and down to a more recently constructed trapper’s cabin which we were able to look inside. Most of us agreed we would not choose to spend a winter there even though it looked quite cozy. Fresh polar bear tracks in the snow just behind the cabin reminded us of one of the many hazards of living in such a location.
Back aboard our amazing ship the National Geographic Explorer we cruised west round into Woodfjorden to continue our search for polar bears. It wasn’t long before we came across a large bear swimming toward one of a group of small islands in the mouth of the fjord. Much to our surprise just as the bear hauled itself out onto one of the islands we became aware of another bear on the island which must have been hidden behind a rock or laying down. This bear did not seem to appreciate company and swam off across to a neighbouring island. Leaving these bears behind we continued to cruise deeper into the fjord towards Monacobreen.
Monacobreen is an enormous, spectacular glacier that’s snout flows out into the fjord. Much to our pleasure we discovered a large pod of Beluga whales feeding at the edge of the glacier along with thousands of kittiwakes and the occasional ivory gull.
During dinner our ship headed north once again to visit Moffen Island that is found at about 80 degrees north. To all of our delight we found the walrus at home, one large pile of these extraordinary creatures and a couple of smaller groups huddled together on the shingle beach close to the shore. There were also numerous animals in the sea close to the haul out, their curiosity waxed and waned as to what our big blue ship was doing in their part of the world. What an amazing way for all on board to conclude the day; watching walrus in the midnight sun.
