Burgebukta, Hornsund and whales

 Today we reached Hornsund, a beautiful fjord system on the south west corner of Spitsbergen. This is the place where Wanny Wolstad overwintered for five years as a trapper. Our destination was Burgebukta, a bay on the north side of Hornsund. We were a little bit delayed due to ice conditions, but the weather was very nice, with high clouds, no winds and five  degrees Celsius. 

16 passengers including two of the expedition team members went glacier hiking on Burgebreen, and we had a good time watching the different ice formations on the glaciers. 

There was a lot of activities this morning, so we also had groups who went kayaking, and two groups who went cruising in Hornsund with the big polar circle boats.

After a long and nice landing in Burgebukta we went cruising with Fram in Hornsund, and the raw mountains and glacier fronts gave us a magnificent view. In the evening it was time for our famous crew show in the panorama lounge, and we also had a passenger who performed a lovely song for us. We had some great musical experiences as well as dancing performances, and from time to time it was interrupted by whale sightings on the sea.

Drift ice, Heleysundet and Edgeøya

 At early morning hours while crossing through the strait between Spitsbergen and Barentoya we encountered two bears on the ice a mother and a well grown calf.  We stopped the vessel and the two creatures approached us very closely they were curious.

At early morning hours we arrived to Heleysundet and we had a clear and sunny early start our goal was to land in Sundbukta.  

As we approached to the southwestern tip of Barentoya fog and ice was appearing through Freemansund channel and as soon we reached the landing site we realized that was clogged with ice and we decide to go instead to Kapp Lee.  Kapp Lee is located in the NW part of Edgeoya and there we were told about the hunters that used the hut.  

 On the beach there was a large herd of walruses where we spend some time looking and photographing them we also had a walk on the hills where we saw some rain deer.

In the afternoon we sailed south through Storforden along the ice edge looking for beards and our efforts paid off late in the evening where we encountered another bear the number six of the trip.  Ice was seen through the night.  On our way we also did encounter many Brunnich´s Guillemots with their recently jumped  nestlings swimming along the ice edge—a sight to be seen.

  

Walrusses and Polar bears

Today we had a soft start on the morning, with lectures and relaxations. Then, in the late morning we landed on Torellneset on Nordaustlandet. Nordaustlandet means the north-east land, and the name speaks for itself, it is situated on the north east corner of the Svalbard Archipelago and is separate from Spitsbergen.

The good weather does not seem to end on this voyage. We had beautiful sunny weather, the ice was drifting fast, and it was moving with the strong currents in Hinlopenstredet. We spotted a large herd of walruses laying on the beach, as well as walruses that were out swimming in the water and doing acrobatics. In the beginning we could even hear a seal that was singing in the water. 

There was also loads of birds in the ice just outside the beach, and we were fascinated about the rich wild life on this seemingly barren place. Two groups went glacier hiking on a glacier (name) that is actually connected to the big ice cap of Austfonna on Nordaustlandet, while some went out with our big polar circle boats to go cruising in the drift ice among swimming walruses.

Later in the day, we were going through the drift ice, and we had our dinner as usual, but it was interrupted as we heard on the speakers an announcement that there was a polar bear on the ice. Everyone of course ran out, and we were very happy to see that this was actually a mother with two cubs! They were not shy, and they approached the ship as we were laying still or slowly moving towards them. They were very playful and relaxed, and it was pure joy to watch the two small cubs playing around while the mother was trying to have a nap...

Lieftefjord, Monacoglacier and Moffen

Early this morning we visited Monacobreen (= Monaco Glacier) located in Liefdefjord 8 which means ¨Love bay¨ and runs for about 30 km in length, this fiord is about 13 km at the entrance and about 6 km in width at the Glacier.  The Glaciers at the end of the bay were named by a German surveyor named Paul Seliger.  The main glacier is named Monaco after the Duke Albert I of Monaco and then to the left Ema and Idabreen being named after the daughter and wife of the surveyor. 

It was an extremely sunny morning a bit unusual such warm weather but we had an enjoyable Polar-Cirkle boat cruise where we observed a few bird species such as Kitiwakes, Fulmars, Artic Skuas, and Glaucous Gulls.  Some of us went into a hike on the near mountains and they came back tired but with a smiley face.

In the afternoon some went into a Polar Circle boat cruise along Liefdefjord from Monacobreen to Mushamna or Mouse Bay-to visit the area around an ex hunter hut.  Around the area there are two small lakes there that contain a variety of waterfowl including birds like Eider ducks, Brent Goose, and Red-throated Divers.  

On the shoreline we encountered a small herd of walruses and a second herd that was swimming next to the hut.  

We had an extraordinary warm day and we ended the evening with a visit to Moffen Island besides to be a well known place for walruses, this visit contained two small clusters.  However Moffen is also exceed the 80 degrees north which is the closest place to the north pole that we visit on this trip.

Circumnavigation Spitsbergen, day 2

This day we woke up once more to a beautiful weather. We started the day in Ny-Ålesund, a Norwegian research settlement situated in Kongsfjorden or Kings Bay on North West Spitsbergen. There is a lot of different nations doing research in Ny-Ålesund, so the town mainly consists of research stations from the different countries that are present. 

Some lucky few spotted an Arctic fox, otherwise we were guided around in the town by the expedition team and we were able to visit the local shop and walk freely around the town after that.

After Ny-Ålesund we headed for the famous Magdalendafjorden and Gravneset, where over 100 whalers were buried during the 1600s and 1700s

We had the opportunity to walk to Gullybreen, a calving glacier and some of us could clearly see the magnificent calvings from the glacier. Since the weather was still very nice and warm (!!) some of us went for a refreshing swim on the white sandy beach on Gravneset. 

 After some hours, when everyone was on board again, we continued our voyage, going north along the coast of western Spitsbergen, and we could enjoy the view on deck in the sun.

Barentsburg

We arrived at 4pm to Fram there was the checking and formalities a mandatory safety drill was conducted and then our journey started. 

 Our first stop was during the evening and visited an active Russian coal mining town named Barentsburg which was named after the Dutch navigator William Barentsz whom came to Svalbard in 1596 and probably on the eyes of occidental or western civilization would be the official discovered of Spitsbergen. 

 The mining activities on the area started in 1912 and in 1932 became property of the Russian state owned Trust of Arktikugol.  There was a brake on the mining between 1941 and 1946 and currently still in operations.

We did a tour around town guided by local Russian people were they explained the town and its buildings that are being going through a large remodeling.  Around 400 persons live here year round some young kids still here but most are now at home on summer holidays. The tour ended with a nice musical show done by the miner workers or their wifes. 

Arctic summer day in Isfjorden

Today we have had a nice arctic summer day with +7 degrees and the sun has been peeking through the clouds from time to time. We started the day with a nice breakfast buffet as usual, and then we had a landing at Ymerbukta. In Ymerbukta we had a nice view to Esmarkbreen (Esmark glacier) and we were witnesses to a massive calving! Some of us went glacier hiking, while others have been cruising around the area in our polar circle boats.

Later in the day, we stopped outside Pyramiden, an abandoned Russian mining town in Billefjorden. Some of the passengers went ashore here to have a dinner at the old hotel in Pyramiden, which was quite an exotic experience! The last polar circle cruising of this trip also started in Pyramiden, which went to the magnificent glacier front of Nordenskjoldbreen.

Fram also cruised along the glacier front of Nordenskjoldbreen, and it was magnificent! Afterwards, we went to pick up the passengers that left us for a dinner party in Pyramiden, and then we set sails towards Longyearbyen which was our final destination on this trip. We have had some great moments on this expedition, and it has been unique in many ways. We have seen 7 polar bears. We have spent hours breaking through dense pack ice. Fram has for the first time landed on Hopen. There has been strong winds up to hurricane, but also sunny and warm arctic summer weather. We have seen walrusses close up AND like this we can spend weeks talking about all we have experienced. This we will keep as good memories. 

A windy day in Hornsund and Burgerbukta

We arrived early morning to the entrance of Hornsund. The weather was not the best, with wind reaching moments of over 30 m/s and of course it was accompanied by some rain.  However, it was decided to explore further down the fjords to see if there was a place protected by the wind and lucky us we found that our afternoon landing site Burgerbukta was ok for a landing.  We went ahead and we did it. Some of us went for a glacier walk on Kvalfangerbreen glacier and the rest did a panoramic walk up to a moraine, and then down to the beach. Most of the late morning the weather was on our side but toward the early part of the afternoon rain, snow and ice came down in the company of some winds.

After lunch, since the weather was not the best for a landing, we decided to go inside the fjord for a scenery tour and have a closer view of some of the multiple glaciers that occur at the fjord end. The weather did improve a little when we were inside the fjord systems, but on our way out it was very windy, and the winds were reaching the force of a heavy storm we were not able to land, but instead, some lectures were offered.  The day ended with the famous MV Fram crew show.

A historic landing on Hopen

Today we woke up to a quite foggy weather. We had to put our course a little further away from the ice edge to be able keep the speed up. We had a relaxing start of the day with lectures, but before the lecturers were able to finish, we heard the announcement ringing on the speakers that a polar bear with a fresh kill had been observed close to the ship. Everyone of course ran out on the deck and it was magnificent to see a polar bear in its true element, dragging a fresh seal carcass across the ice floes.

Later in the day, the fog picked up again. But we did not think too much about the weather after the expedition leader announced that we would attempt a landing at Hopen! This place is rarely visited by tourists, and it was the first time for Fram, all passengers and everyone in the expedition time to visit this island. People were euphoric about this historical landing, and two of the meteorologists and a very friendly local Alaskan husky came out to greet us. They were quite happy to get visitors, and we were quite happy to meet local people who could answer all our questions. There is only four people living and working on Hopen, they stay there for six months at the time, and they do not see people very often.

In the evening some of the crew impressed us with their hidden talents at their fruit and ice carving show in the panorama lounge

Breaking through the ice with Fram

We arrived at Alkefellet in the early morning. It is classified as a medium size bird cliff in Svalbard and it is estimated that about 60 thousand breeding pairs of Guillemots breeds at this place.  However large numbers of Kitiwakes and Glaucous gulls breed at Alkefellet as well.  It is an impressive and amazing sight to see the movements and to hear the sound produced by the high traffic of birds in and out of the colony.  You might think as to be in the middle of a large bee swarm the sensation is spectacular an experience that you will remember for a long while.

We then visited Torellneset the place was cold and foggy, however we did manage to land and to see a large herd of about 68 walruses, although they were divided in two clusters, the second cluster was a bit out of view and a few more were in the water the total count was perhaps close to 100 animals.  Everyone manage and see a quite close view of these amazing creatures.  

We returned back to Fram and continued through the Hinlopenstretet where we encounter the ice and navigated through it the rest of the afternoon a special feeling and sight. As we crossed the ice belt we spotted some polar bears we literally parked the vessel on the ice to observe them. They were quite curious but after a while they turned away and continued their walk through the ice. as the day ended we crossed the ice and again we ended in open waters to continue our trip.