Last night we left the pack ice at above 80˚ latitude and headed south down the Hinlopen Strait towards our featured destinations. This narrow strait is located in the north of the Svalbard archipelago and separates the eastern side of Spitsbergen Island and Nordaustlandet.
First on the agenda this morning was an “Introduction to Photography” presentation by our photo instructor Rich Kirchner followed by brief breakout sessions with the photo team. Brief because we approached Cape Fanshawe and the overwhelming biomass of approximately 70,000 breeding pair of Brünnich’s guillemot nesting on steep cliffs. This was our first real photography test of trying to capture these “flying footballs” soaring past the ship and landing on the water. Members of the Alcid family of birds, the Brünnich’s guillemot is more hydrodynamic than aerodynamic. Next up was our Global Perspective guest speaker, Michael Wysession who presented “Civilization Exists by Geologic Consent.” His poignant talk covered mankind’s history and the correlations of climate change with historic volcanic eruptions.
Without skipping a moment, the National Geographic Explorer anchored in Palanderbukta on west side of Nordaustlandet. A number of hikes were offered with our naturalist staff on this stark landscape that was original ocean floor hundreds of millions of years ago. The highlights were a pair of Svalbard reindeer eking a living on this barren landscape. At first sight, the stark landscape appeared void of life until we examined the macro life on the ground; fossils, purple saxifrage, and my favorite, the Svalbard poppy. Other highlights were ancient whalebones embedded in the soil for millennia and a mummified polar bear carcass that we examined closely.
Just as the guests were preparing for the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party, our expedition leader Mike Moore made the announcement of a polar bear of the bow on the barren island of Zeipelodden in Palanderbukta. This was a quality bear that came right to the shore to investigate our presence and displayed all the cute characteristics of this apex predator of the north. The bear finally lost interest in our ship and meandered off across the island. The Captain Krüess Welcome Party was slightly delayed but well worth the dinner conversation and the perfect first bear encounter on this two-week trip.
