Svalbard Cruise Day 3: Glacier Walking and Wildlife at Smeerenburg
This was our first nature landing in the area- we landed at Bjørnfjorden to experience an Arctic glacier walk along a moraine and right on top of the ice. The sun was so bright with zero wind. We watched some carvings from the next door glacial- absolutely stunning. The concept of walking on a glacier was mind blowing. Walking back to the tender boat I noticed a solitary beluga whale – exciting but also worrying. The marine biologist was keeping an eye as a single beluga is unusual, however it looked like it was just doing an assessment of the bay as it was soon joined by 3 others. We spent a good 20 minutes watching them hunting and swimming in the water. They are like swimming ghosts- really unusual but so cool and pretty inquisitive about us!
Smeerenburg Walrus Colony and Whaling History
In the afternoon we sailed North to Smeerenburg where there used to be a whaling settlement. It’s where we learned about the whale named the right whale – it was named as it was an easy one to hunt. They were seen as slower-moving, docile, easy to get from shore and floated well. They were hunted to near extinction. It’s now a prime spot for a Svalbard walrus safari, home to a whole host of these incredible creatures. We kept our distance and watched them for a good hour. Outside of mating season the males will all sleep together. They are so awkward on land and a bit grumpy when one encroached on the others space but also they just couldn’t be bothered to fight so more noise than anything. In the water they are so quick and graceful and I soon found myself being uno reversed with a walrus watching me from the water.
Svalbard Cruise Day 4: Kayaking Liefdefjord and Monacobreen
We carried our sailing North and then east and back west to enter Liefdefjord to get to Monacobreen (Monaco Glacier). We had signed up for an Arctic kayaking excursion on this day The weather was perfect for kayaking- bright blue skies and flat calm water, the other guests did small boat cruising around the bay.
The previous night we had to be measured for thermal suits and dry suits as well as a safety briefing specifically for kayaking. The water is around 0-4oC in July and cold shock is a very real problem. The dry suit and thermal kit should help improve survival should the worse happen and we capsize. I have kayaked in a lot in different places. I started to overthink both the cold and the depth of the water I was in which wasn’t helpful. In the end I had to put that to the back of my mind, and just climb in and crack on – pretending that I was just on a river in the UK. The kayaks enabled us to pass near bergy bits (these are a legitimate name for certain sizes of iceberg). They have their own sounds- constantly crackling and popping. We were advised to avoid any larger pieces as they melt they can flip over quite rapidly and we did see this happen. We paddled to a safe distance to watch the active Monaco Glacier (Monacobreen) calving into the water. The sounds and the visuals was only surpassed by riding the kayak over the bow wave associated with each carving. All my senses were activated. Staring up at this massive living breathing structure made me feel really inconsequential in the grand plan of things. This was a feeling I often had when in the Arctic.
Visiting Texas Bar and Citizen Science in the Arctic
The afternoon was spent at Texas bar which has an old hunters cabin. These are still free to use by people that want to. It was an interesting insight into the history and gave great views over Monacobreen and the fjord. The whole area was smothered in pretty summer flowers – alpine style plants brimming in pinks and yellows and giving a real contrast to the surrounding white and greys.
After Texas bar we spent some time in the science lab looking at plankton samples under microscope and learning about the different types. One picture was highlighted showing a plankton clinging onto a bright red fibre- this was a microplastic in the water. Microplastics are such a concern and it was very sad seeing the plankton gripping on so dearly to something so un-natural.