FRIDAY 4th of June
This Friday we spent in the northernmost permanent settlement in the world: Ny Ålesund. In the summer time around 150 people lives here, researchers from all over the world. China, Korea, India, Norway and six more nations have research stations here.
But we were not the first tourists in the town. Last summer they had about 30.000.
– This summer there will be even more tourists, said Roger Jakobsen. He is the director of Kings Bay which is running the logistics for the researchers in Ny Ålesund.
– We have to find a balance between tourism and research, he said. Too much tourism can damage the research.
– But it is also important that people can see what we are doing, he said, and then strictly instructed us to follow the rules:
– Stay on the roads, don’t touch anything, don’t throw anything – and turn off your bluetooth.
Then we went to town in another beautiful day. We had a guided tour in town and also a tour outside town in the afternoon.
Next to us in the fjord we saw a whaling boat and a blue vessel with a rainbow on it. Greenpeace had just arrived town, helping some German scientists with equipment. The press group and some other of the passengers got a brief about the actual project, which was a cooperation between nine different countries, trying to find out more about pollution and CO2 storage in the oceans.
We left around eight o’ clock – to get a closer look on the glaciers in Kongsfjorden and the sun helped us with a beautiful light.
