West Coast of Spitsbergen Island
This morning those aboard National Geographic Explorer awoke to a beautiful day cruising along the west coast of Spitsbergen Island. After a blustery departure from our landing in Sorgfjorden yesterday we were excited by the prospects of tierra firme. Dropping the hook in Engelsbukta (English Bay) we were embraced by the amphitheater of a glacially carved landscape, dominated by Comfortlessbreen (Comfortless Glacier) and other tributary glaciers.
On land we were immediately rewarded with an Arctic arboretum in bloom as purple saxifrage was suddenly complemented by flowers of moss campion, avens, chickweeds, and whitlow grass. After spending a few days around the eastern side of the archipelago we could truly appreciate the influences of the Spitsbergen current (aka gulf stream) and the abundance that a warmer clime brings. Evidence of a healthy reindeer population was obvious as we encountered multiple antlers and droppings scattered across the soggy polar desert.
Being the height of summer in the Arctic the active layer of permafrost was thawing and we gingerly tried to avoid walking on the super soggy and sensitive earth. It seems each outing had an amazing encounter with harbor seals, nesting birds, arctic fox, or curious reindeer. It was quite remarkable to find some reindeer in the hills above the landing and sitting quietly and motionless have them approach us! There truly is nothing like being face to face with wild animals!
Returning to the ship for the polar plunge and lunch we then hoisted the anchor and set off for the drop off on a search for cetaceans. Approaching deeper water 30 miles off the archipelago we could see blows in the distance and found multiple fin whales feeding in rich waters. In pursuit of big blue the finale of the trip came when the largest animal to ever live on Earth swam right beside the ship and under our bow. At one point we could see the blue whale’s distended ventral pleats as like the fin whale it was feeding on the soupy krill and plankton that in the end is the baseline for most all the fauna we have encountered on this expedition. An exceptional ending to an extraordinary trip….
