Spitsbergen 2007

First Cruise - June 2007

Mark Van Beirs

Svalbard holds some of Europe's most fabulous scenery and some of its most spectacular wildlife and on our week's cruise along the shores of the northern regions of this archipelago we got more than our share of what was on offer. The M/V Professor Multanovskiy took us to glorious glaciers, snow-clad mountains, colourful patches of tundra and stretches of endless pack and drift ice. We were very fortunate with the weather, enjoying very calm conditions and plenty of sunshine, but we were thwarted on a couple of days by dense fog. The eight landings and four zodiac cruises all went smoothly, and gave us plenty of time ashore to enjoy the wildlife and surprisingly rich flora. Our final tally of 31 species of birds and nine species of mammals reflects quality instead of quantity and we observed a superb variety of splendid creatures like Polar Bear, Ivory Gull, Walrus, Beluga, Northern Minke Whale, Humpback Whale, King Eider, a nice assortment of breeding waders, including Red Phalarope, and, of course, huge numbers of breeding seabirds, notably Brünnich's Guillemots and adorable Little Auks.

Most of the large group of Birdquesters – no fewer than 27 - gathered in Oslo, the capital of Norway, but the tour really started in earnest upon arrival at Longyearbyen, the main town of the arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen, although the spectacular scenery in northern Norway and the rather dramatic approach to the airfield in Tromsø were also much appreciated. Upon arrival at Longyearbyen we were welcomed by Rolf, one of the expedition crew from Oceanwide Expeditions, and within minutes we had piled into a bus and were driving away, first to drop off our baggage at the ship and then to visit ‘downtown' Longyearbyen, the much bigger than expected capital of Spitsbergen. We had some time to explore the town and its lovely museum and souvenir shops. We also visited the waterfront and the famous husky kennels, where Ivory Gulls were sadly absent, but we did enjoy the communal wolf-like howling of the huskies – excellent value – and admired the cart being drawn by a husky team. Close to the kennel we found quite a substantial Common Eider colony, which included a single female King Eider on her nest. Noisy Arctic Terns attacked us fearlessly when we got too close to their nests and pretty little Snow Buntings were singing from the rooftops. Purple Sandpipers and Dunlin foraged along the shoreline, where we also found several cute Long-tailed Duck and a few Glaucous Gulls.

In mid afternoon we boarded the M/V Professor Multanovskiy, our floating base for the next week, settled into our cabins and assembled in the bar for our first of many briefings by the Oceanwide Expeditions staff (Rolf, Elke, Rico and Charlie). At about 6 p.m., we weighed anchor and were off, cruising west out of the Isfjord amongst really spectacular snow-covered mountain scenery. Another briefing (this time on safety matters), the mandatory lifeboat drill and the excellent dinner, prepared by our New Zealand and Malaysian chefs, took up much of the evening. With 24 hours of daylight, there was still plenty of time for sea-watching from the decks as we moved out of the fjord into the open sea. Here, we familiarized ourselves with the commoner seabirds of Spitsbergen: Northern Fulmars, almost entirely of the dark ‘blue' morph typical of high latitudes, dashing Arctic Skuas, dainty Black-legged Kittiwakes, and the four common auks, Brünnich's Guillemot, Black Guillemot, Little Auk and Atlantic Puffin.

Next morning, we were anchored off the little island of Blomstrandhalvøya, and after an interesting briefing on how to avoid being eaten by a Polar Bear and how to get in and out of a zodiac, we landed at this rich coastal tundra environment. Here, as at many of our landing sites, we split into three groups: a group of ‘amblers' who could potter along slowly looking at the birds and plants, a group of ‘hikers', who could head up the nearest mountain to enjoy the view and a group of very well equipped photographers, which we soon nicknamed, “the paparazzi”. The only restriction was that with each group there should be a guide armed with a rifle – just in case we would encounter an unfriendly Polar Bear. We had a look at the remains of an ill-fated marble mine plant, but the main attraction here was the resident pair of extremely elegant Long-tailed Skuas, that posed so very well for us. Rather shy Red-throated Divers inhabited the pond and a Pink-footed Goose had built its nest on top of a crag. Several pairs of Barnacle Geese were breeding on an islet and a cracking male Rock Ptarmigan was overlooking his territory from the top of a boulder.   An excellent selection of colourful and interesting flowers like Purple Saxifrage, Arctic Bell Heather, Hairy Louseworth, Mountain Avens and the tiny Polar Willow were also much appreciated. Several Reindeer of the small and short legged Svalbard race were grazing nearby.

In the afternoon we visited the interesting scientific community of Ny Ålesund, the northernmost village in the world, containing the northernmost shop and post office on our planet. Here, we learned about the exploits of Amundsen, Nobile and Ellsworth in their attempts to reach the North Pole by airship, and checked out the ponds, creeks and shoreline for birds. One of the highlights was the friendly female Arctic Fox with her seven adorable pups, but the splendid adult Ivory Gull in its immaculate white finery really stole the show. A pair of Common Ringed Plovers tried to lure us away from their nest and hordes of Little Auks were circling high over the nearby mountain which holds the northernmost cable car in the world. The rarest bird was found by Alan as he showed us a vagrant male Common Blackbird at the dog kennels. Probably the northernmost   Common Blackbird ever !!

After another scrumptious dinner we cruised into the Kongsfjord and ended the day by admiring the amazing Kongsvegen glacier at close range. The high and imposing ice cliff showed patches of different magical hues of blue and hundreds of Black-legged Kittiwakes and Northern Fulmars were bathing in the meltwater. Three Bearded Seals were loafing on the ice shoals.

In midmorning we arrived in the huge Liefdefjord on the northern coast of the archipelago. The mirror-like sea reflected the spectacular surrounding snow-covered mountains, but as soon as we boarded the zodiacs for a leisurely cruise amongst the Andøyane Islands (Duck Islands), mist started to form and spoiled it all a bit for us. We still saw three highly attractive drake King Eiders and then landed on a small island, where Rolf first checked the place out armed with his Remington rifle. Another male King Eider showed very well, but the main attraction were the seven dainty and colourful Red Phalaropes doing their thing at close range. Great fun. We also did our bit for conservation as we collected lots of plastic and disused fishing nets. Later we sailed further into the Liefdefjord, where we eventually ground to a halt in the ice about 3 km from the Monaco glacier, one of the largest in Spitsbergen, and here, in a truly magnificent setting we observed at least eight different, striking and much-prized Ivory Gulls. After dinner, we anchored in the nearby Bockfjord, where our only Pale-bellied Brent Geese of the trip were seen and where we walked to the tiny thermal pool, which is one of the few remains of volcanic activity on Spitsbergen. Here, we obtained perfect scope views of a male and an unobtrusive female Rock Ptarmigan. In the late evening we sailed out of the Woodfjord escorted by skeins of hundreds of Little Auks and Brünnich's Guillemots and close to midnight John found a rather distant pod of Belugas, that some of us still managed to see.

The next day we arrived at the Alkefjellet (Auk cliffs) in the Hinlopen Strait and in mid morning we made a very much appreciated zodiac cruise below the up to 100m high cliffs which harbour about 50,000 pairs of Brünnich's Guillemots. The sea was full of these very arctic alcids and so were the cliffs, where we enjoyed intimate scenes amongst these feisty creatures. Most of the birds were brooding and several pairs of Glaucous Gulls kept an eye on things and obviously lived off the colony. There were also good numbers of Black Guillemots and Black-legged Kittiwakes about. Whilst returning to the ship our zodiac spotted a swimming Walrus. Most of the rest of the day we cruised amongst the drift ice of the central part of the Hinlopen Strait, where the mirror-like surface was partially covered with small icebergs in an immense variety of shapes.   We had great looks at a docile Bearded Seal and spotted a couple of Northern Minke Whales. In the early evening we made a landing at the Sorgfjord where we found several Sanderling in breeding plumage and a few displaying Purple Sandpipers and heard fascinating bits of local history at the bleak cemetery.

In the early morning the M/V Multanovskiy had reached its northernmost position at 80°48' North at the edge of the pack ice to the west of the Sjuøyane Islands. After another excellent breakfast we were all on deck and started sailing slowly along the edge of the ice that stretched north to the pole. Within minutes our party had found the main target of the tour: a formidable Polar Bear and Captain Igor Stetsun then tried to follow this magnificent creature amongst the large ice floes of   this incredibly hostile environment. He remained rather distant but we were immensely happy and felt privileged. Later in the day another Polar Bear was spotted at much closer range and this one stunned us all by coming towards the ship and allowing fantastic views while swimming and inspecting us. When it finally realized we were a bit out of his league, he walked away over the pack ice. The King of the High Arctic had obliged. While observing this glorious animal, another bear was found ambling in the distance. Our only Sabine's Gull of the trip showed just as we were concentrating on the bear and we also observed a splendid fully-spooned Pomarine Skua. In the afternoon we boarded the zodiacs and just floated amongst the many ice floes and admired their incredible shapes and colours. The day ended with a delicious BBQ dinner cum glühwein on the foredeck. We had been warned to dress warmly. This was followed by some Russian dancing and later several Birdquesters were invited to attend the birthday party of one of the crew members where they learned a few things about vodka…

Early next morning found us just off Moffen Island, but sadly the mist was so dense that we could not even see the place and because Moffen is a strict nature reserve, we had to keep our distance. We hung around a bit and were rewarded with sightings of two swimming Walruses with impressive tusks. We then sailed south to the northwest of the main island of Svalbard. The mist soon disappeared and dramatic scenery appeared all around us as we anchored just off the entrance of the Raudfjord. All five zodiacs were launched, and for the next couple of hours we explored the bay, admiring the huge colony of Black-legged Kittiwakes and Brünnich's Guillemots on the precipitous cliffs, and drifting about amongst the bright blue icebergs in front of the 3km wide Hamilton glacier. In the afternoon we sailed to the nearby little island of Fuglesangen, where we enjoyed a delightful afternoon just sitting at the edge of an enormous Little Auk colony. These delightful little creatures soon settled down within very close range and posed so incredibly well. We had a great time here just lying amongst the boulders and watching these cuties display and cackle and fight and snooze. Magical moments. Every now and then a Glaucous Gull flew over the colony and startled all the Little Auks in taking flight, whereby they showed off their amazing flight prowess in spectacular dense Starling-like formations. But soon they settled down again, often within a few meters from us. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

On our last full day in Spitsbergen, we landed on Prins Karls Forland at a sandspit called Poolepynten, a haul out spot for male Walruses. A strategic approach under the watchful eye of our German expedition leader Rolf resulted in being able to approach these gentle-looking giants within 50m. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours watching and photographing the antics of these strange creatures that look like big fat slugs on land, but move so elegantly in the water. A spectacularly breaching Humpback Whale provided even more entertainment and so did another Beluga. Arctic Skuas were very much a feature of this area and once we saw no fewer than four birds chasing the same hapless Black-legged Kittiwake. Three Red-throated Divers were displaying, Red Phalaropes were spinning away and we also obtained our best views of several Great Skuas here. In the afternoon we explored a lovely tundra spot full of flowers called Eidembukta. The leisurely walk yielded a flock of c500 drake Common Eiders, about 15 King Eiders, a party of Long-tailed Duck including a male in winter plumage and several displaying Purple Sandpipers. We then sailed to Longyearbyen as several passengers had to catch a middle of the night flight out. After some final formalities on board, we said our farewells to our friendly crew and the Oceanwide Expeditions staff, and disembarked from the Professor Multanovskiy for the last time. A short bus ride brought us into town, and then those who did not want to spend the morning shopping ambled out to the husky kennels on the outskirts of town. Common Eiders, fierce Arctic Terns and Snow Buntings waved their goodbyes and we had lunch at the Café Busen. We then boarded our bus for the airport, and were on our way back to the hustle and bustle of the civilised world, filled with delightful memories and with full memory cards.