Mosselbukta, Monacobreen & Moffen
After our previous late night out exploring Phippsoya Island there were some bleary eyes this morning as we headed out for the landing at Mosselbukta. Bright sunlight and a fresh breeze at the landing and the prospect of exploring this remarkable area soon fired up our enthusiasm for another excursion. We were ashore to investigate the historic ruins of A. E. Nordenskiold’s hut built in 1872, named “Polhem.” Although the remains of this building obviously collapsed some time ago, the quality of the construction and the extensive floor plan of this building suggest this North Pole expedition was well funded.
There is a long rocky causeway that connects the mainland to the small island where Nordenskiold’s hut is situated. We walked across this causeway to gain access to a modern day trapper’s cabin about a mile away. Along the way we came across a number of interesting artifacts from this area’s past including a selection of barrel staves and parts of old wooden boats. Amongst the seaweed washed up on the shore, numerous purple sand pipers foraged for insect larvae. The stony causeway provides ideal nesting habitat for Arctic terns who weren’t entirely happy with our presence as we made our way across. The cozy trapper’s cabin is set in a stunning location surrounded by snow-covered mountains, glaciers, and tundra flats but exudes a strong feeling of loneliness.
We just made it back onto the National Geographic Explorer in time for lunch. Today’s menu included my favorite, fish and chips. This afternoon we made our way west to Monacobreen in Woodfjord. Along the way polar bears were noticed roaming around on an area named Reindeer Flats that is on the western side of the entrance to Woodfjord. There were two large male bears and a mother with a single cub. The bright, sunny afternoon provided ideal conditions for observing these wonderful animals as they wandered apparently aimlessly over the rocky tundra. Eventually we moved on, the stunning landscape of mountains and glaciers deep in the fjord beckoned. The wonder of the heavily crevassed glaciers tumbling into the silt-laden waters of the fjord seemed to hold us all entranced as our captain skilfully took our ship along the face of this enormous ice wall.
During dinner our ship was on the move again this time heading for Moffen, a low shingle island a few miles north of Spitsbergen. This island provides a popular haul-out location for the local male walrus population and often large numbers of these animals are seen here. Our luck continued as the walrus were home, some clustered together in groups of ten or more and some were seen frolicking in the water’s edge, all well illuminated by the low angle of the late evening sun. The wind was blowing hard and breaking waves added to the drama of the visit, as did the relatively rare Sabine’s Gulls dancing on the waves, feeding on tiny copepod’s washed up in the spray.
