Svalbard Cruise Day 5: Kinnvika, Alkefjellet Bird Cliffs, and a Midnight Polar Bear
We were in Kinnvika and had a guided hike up a local hill planned. However a hemiplegic migraine on my behalf put pay to that plan and I sadly missed the hike. My husband really enjoyed it and it gave views over the icy landscape. This was an old research station of mainly Swedish- Finnish origin. There was also a beach clean up – a surprising amount of rubbish ends up in the Arctic and on the beaches here due to the currents and Hx encourages passengers to help with them at all opportunities. It was quite sobering to see how much was collected at the end of the day.
Zodiac Cruising the Towering Cliffs of Alkefjellet
By the afternoon my symptoms had resolved so I could safely partake in the planned afternoon activity. his was a Zodiac small boat cruise around the famous Alkefjellet bird cliffs. These spectacular cliffs are home to thousands of Brünnich’s guillemots nesting in the Arctic summer, alongside noisy kittiwakes and gulls. The sound (and smell) of all these birds was at times overwhelming, they were everywhere!
We had a wake up call at 11pm for another polar bear sighting on the island of Konerøya. These calls are always exciting and we soon awoke from our sleep – dressing over the top of the Pjs is definitely the order of things – it is quick, warm and presents us more decently! We were able to observe for a good period of time at a safe distance from the top decks of the boat.
Tomorrow was a rare day at sea as the ice sheet hadn’t yet melted to allow passage between the islands of Barents and Edge island on the east coast. This is always a risk with these types of cruises and there is always a caveat that the route depends on weather and ice conditions and importantly everyone’s safety. So far the cruise had been busy with early starts, later nights and filled with interesting stuff in the gaps. Of course nothing was mandatory and we did meet people who did less but our approach was to say yes to everything. We could always sleep later!
Svalbard Cruise Day 6: Whale Spotting and a Rare Landing on Hopen Island
The planned sea day became a sea morning although our more gentle start was broken by an announcement of whales at 7:30am. Up on top deck to indeed see both Fin and Humpback whales blowing in the distance—it’s hard to describe the sheer size of these animals! This was followed by a further announcement that Hx had had received rare permission to make a shore landing on Hopen Island in the afternoon- only the second time Hx had been permitted to land.
Visiting the Norwegian Meteorological Station on Hopen
This island is home to the Norwegian Meteorological station which also acts as a radio station to relay messages between Svalbard and the Norwegian coast in case of emergency. There are 4 people living there doing 6 months stints at a time. It was incredibly remote. Fresh food was not always in plentiful supply depending on when their last delivery was. Bananas became highly sought after as there is not easy way to preserve this fruit. It’s odd how a simple fruit can mean so much to people when the circumstances are changed. We were shown around and chatted to the people manning the island about their daily life. There was also a huge population of Eider ducks sitting on nests full of eggs, there are fluffy and noisy little things but everyone respected them and gave them space.