Why does it seem to be so very cold in the Arctic? Those who venture south to the Antarctic move within latitudes of 50 and 60 degrees South – quite balmy really. Up here, the Arctic Circle resides at latitude 66 degrees North, and I am much further north than that. When I flew from Oslo to Longyearbyen on Svalbard, I was already at 78° N. The expedition cruise circumnavigated Svalbard, a land endowed with hundreds of fjords and glaciers, dramatic in every sense of the word. When we passed across the northernmost part of this land, the ship made a special detour cruising directly north to reach the edge of the polar ice. During winter, the ice meets Svalbard. As we turned the vessel into the pack ice, we were at 81° 23’ 11” – within the last ten degrees.

My senior Maths students studying Earth Geometry will now have the skills to work out just how far I was from the North Pole! Have a go.

The Bird Group will be curious about the birdlife. There are only 27 resident species on this vast archipelago. Those that I have personally sighted are Arctic Skua, Pink-footed Goose, Barnacle Goose, Eider Duck, King Eider Duck, Arctic Tern (the world’s longest traveller), Black Guillemot, Brunnich’s Guillemot (the closest thing to penguins when gathered on ice!), Glaucous Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Northern Fulmar, Ivory Gull, Grey/Red Phalarope, Purple Sandpiper (no purple on it at all) and the Snow Bunting (the only songbird). The Puffin and Little Auk were elusive. 

And what about the wildlife? I am sure you are curious. On the second day, during a zodiac cruise through brash ice in a sheltered fjord, we sighted Minke whales and came close to a large, bearded seal content on his ice shelf. Day three gave us a mamma bear and two cubs on the snowy slopes. On day four, during our venture into the polar pack ice, the crew suddenly shouted, “polar bear at 11 o’clock”. She was extremely curious and romped across the slippery surface to investigate us, nose sniffing the air. A brilliant photo opportunity. We left her there and backed out, moving several kilometres south to start the polar plunge from the side of the vessel. About two-thirds of the way through, someone yelled, “polar bear in the water!”

Maintaining her curiosity, she chased the ship and was alongside us. Polar plunging ceased immediately! Despite their size, they can swim extremely fast. As you can imagine, there was a fair share of adrenalin rushing through the veins of the expedition team members.

Only recently has the channel between Spitzbergen and Nordaustlandet thawed and became navigable. Here at Ardneset, we had our first viewing of walrus ‘hauled out’ on land. Our real walrus experience took place on the island of Kvitoya in the far north-east. Known as White Island, 99% covered by ice, this is very remote and not generally on expedition ships’ agenda due to difficult access. Here we witnessed scores of walruses on ‘bergy bits’ (the name for miniature icebergs) and in the water, many with young. At our second call on Kvitoya, we found a daddy bear roaming along a promontory adjacent to a walrus creche. The bulls were protective and kept popping up next to the zodiacs to keep us at bay. They have been known to puncture the inflatable craft with their tusks. 

Guides always carried a firearm when we managed to land and walk across the tundra strewn with tiny flowers. One day, the plan was to visit a colony of nesting kittiwakes on shore. That came to naught when our team went ahead on a recce only to find mamma bear and cub coming over the rise. Instead, we took to the zodiacs, cruising close to land, and were rewarded with sightings of the Svalbard reindeer and an Arctic fox, albeit a fleeting glimpse.

On our last day, we were lucky to manage two landings, the second at Bourbonhamna, where you can find a hut called Bamsebu (home of the bear). As if to bring our ten-day expedition to a brilliant finale, a pod of 50 beluga whales suddenly appeared in the bay before us.

COME TO SVALBARD – THE COLD IS WORTH IT!

Contact Gina at Travelling Places 
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 P: 07 5545 1600 
 E: travel@travellingplaces.com.au