Walrus Walk

The morning of May 27 was quite relaxing. Though we were around another boat at this point (the area we had come from was inaccessible by most boats so we were even more remote), this morning was still beautiful. We sailed along Hinlopen photographing spectacular bird cliffs. 

Everywhere you looked, birds were flying around.

The wide angle doesn't even begin to capture how high these cliffs were!

Sailing along the edge of the cliffs.

Here, there were hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs. From the ship, we could also see some Arctic foxes patiently waiting for their meals (they have a diet of lemmings, voles, seabirds, eggs, fish, and sometimes leftovers of a polar bear’s meal). After observing the flocks of birds and after sailing up and down the cliffs several times, we headed out back into the sea ice in search of wildlife. 

Almost immediately, we came across a female walrus. This one allowed us to get quite close on the boat, providing amazing photographic opportunities. 

Shortly after this sighting, we also came across a bearded seal. To get an even lower perspective, I once again laid down on the cold outer deck floor, sticking my 600mm lens out of a small opening. Once again, it was worth it.

As we journeyed back into the pack ice, we came across a mother polar bear with two cubs. Unfortunately, she was too far away to photograph, but apparently, she had just killed a seal and brought it over to her two youngsters. With little chance of the three approaching our ship, we set off in search of other Arctic beauty. During the evening, the ship we had seen at the bird cliffs radioed saying they needed assistance getting out of the pack ice… they were stuck! Our ship turned around, but by the time we had arrived back to the location where we previously were, the other ship had already gotten out. Now behind in our schedule, we turned around once more and proceeded on our route.

The following morning, we saw a middle-aged male polar bear walking along the shore in one of the fjords. Though we were in uncharted waters (literally—the captain had no idea whether the sea was deep or if we’d run aground), we inched closer and closer to the polar bear. It was particularly windy on this day, and it felt as though you’d be blown away if you didn’t hold onto the hand rails. It was almost impossible to keep the camera steady. Standing outside for two hours in the bitter cold, this was our true Arctic experience. I have never been so cold (even with so many layers) in my entire life. The polar bear didn’t wander too close to the ship, though I managed to get some environmental shots before he walked into the distance.

It was amazing to watch this bear cover so much ground distance, thanks to the fur on the sole of each foot that keeps the bear from slipping on ice (and muffles the sound of a bear’s approach when sneaking up on a meal). In fact, polar bears are the only bears that have fur on the soles of their feet. 

May 29^th was perhaps my favorite day on this entire expedition. In the morning, we set off on a zodiac cruise in search of puffins… which we found! 

After photographing them flying, swimming in the water, and sitting on the bird cliffs, we proceeded to make a landing to photograph reindeer. We could see the flock of about 27 from the zodiac, but we were able to get so much closer on land, squishing through the muddy terrain in our waterproof boots. There are about 10,000 reindeer living in Svalbard and these are the smallest reindeer in existence. They have lighter fur color, more rounded heads, and shorter legs than other reindeer. Though they’ve populated Svalbard for around 5,000 years, they were nearly hunted out of existence in the 1900s until dedicated recovery programs came to their aid.

Reindeer running with the herd.

Panorama of our landing site.

After another hour or so photographing the flock, we headed to Ny-Alesund (located at approximately 79° North, making it the world’s northernmost settlement). The English whaler Jonas Pool discovered coal in Kings Bay in 1610. The Kings Bay Coal Company wasn’t founded until 1916, at which time formed the basis of Ny-Alesund from Green Harbour Coal Co. Over the next two years, Ny-Alesund was developed into a coal mining town with houses, a hospital, dining hall, mines, railway lines, a power station, a jetty and a telegraph station. However, mining was very successful and mining stopped in 1929. Many tourist ships sailed to Ny-Alesund, giving birth to the idea of a tourist hotel. Since there was no mining now, the main miners’ quarters were converted into the “North Pole Hotel”, though this was shut down when World War II broke out in 1939. The entire area was evacuated during the war and mining was then resumed in 1945. After a series of more mining accidents, however, the mines were officially closed on November 5, 1963.

Railway car set up for the coal mining industry.

Some people stayed during the winter in 1964, including a geophysicist and his four colleagues… this was the first time researchers spent the winter in Ny-Alesund. Kongsfjord Telemetry Station marked the beginning of Ny-Alesund as a research base. Though it was closed in 1974, Ny-Alesund became popular with researchers. Research in Ny-Alesund comprises four main areas: atmospheric science, marine biology, terrestrial research and investigations of snow and ice. Here, there are 12 established research stations representing 10 different countries: Norway, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, France, South Korea, China and India.The “town” is incredibly small, though it does have the world’s northernmost post office (which I stamped my passport in!). Interestingly enough, the post office served as a general post office in the summertime and was used as a schoolroom in the winter. After 1958, it became family housing and today, it houses the world’s northernmost post office.

World's northernmost post office.

Besides the many research stations, there is also a small museum and gift shop. After walking around the settlement, we headed back to the ship and set sail once more.

Small settlement of Ny-Alesund.

Now this is where it got really exciting… after dinner, our guides were on the lookout for walrus haul outs for the possibility of walking up close to the group of walrus. They began scouting in a well-known area, and sure enough we came across walrus! We had 30 minutes to quickly lower the zodiacs, put on all our layers, grab our cameras, and head out. While 30 minutes may seem like a lot of time, just putting on all your layers can take half the time! Finally all ready, we flew across the water at high-speed, ready to walk alongside walrus. To approach the walrus, we had to line up in a horizontal line, shoulder to shoulder with our ship mates. Our two guides in front, we followed a little behind them. It felt like forever, but we inched closer and closer to the walrus until suddenly we were only a few feet away. 

This guy was super curious and swam closer and closer to us.

With heavy snow coming down, we laid belly-down in the rocky, sandy, super wet beach. Anything for a photograph, right?!  

Thanks for reading about my Arctic adventures... Stay tuned for more and be sure to hit the subscribe button to be notified of new posts! As always, follow my instagram @elissatitle for more pics.