Alkefjellet and the Hinolpen Strait

Another day with an earlier start, not ideal perhaps as we'd been disturbed by louder engine noise during the night (more on that later!) But as always on this trip, it was worth getting up for!!

Alkefjellet

This morning’s plan was a zodiac cruise along the cliffs at Alkefjellet.

Alkefjellet translates to ‘guillemot mountain’ in Norwegian. These imposing cliffs and basalt columns raise up from the sea to over 100 m high, interspersed with a dark layer – a dolerite intrusion. The molten rock, as it intruded, caused the limestone in the contact zone to re-crystalize and form marble. The dark and light strata of rocks add to this dramatic setting. Alkefjellet is a seasonal nesting location for guillemots and kittiwakes
From the Ocean Explorer’s daily programme

This is a significant nesting site for guillemots, mainly Brünnich’s. We learned later from Nigel that there are around 60,000 pairs breeding here! There were also a few kittiwakes and plenty of glaucous gulls who feed on the guillemot chicks.

Our driver was less communicative than others had been, and I actually learned more about the birds from one of the other passengers! But he did get us into some great positions near the cliffs, whenever it was safe to do so. It was very misty at first and my camera struggled to focus, but conditions improved as the ride went on and we even saw the sun towards the end of it.

As we followed the line of the cliffs there were birds constantly overhead, coming and going from feeding areas.

I’ve removed the sound from my short video clip as the wind was so strong it dominated the recording. But I hope it gives you an idea of the scale of the activity here.

The rock formations were amazing. There were stacks and pinnacles all along the cliff, and rocks splintered into various shapes by the ice. We could clearly see the strata too.

We finished near a glacier and could easily see the difference in the sea water colour near the run-off.

From here we turned back towards the ship. Our driver warned us to put cameras etc away as it could be wet, and he was right. I was at the front and got drenched in spray at one point, but with all my protective clothing I only felt it on my face – icy cold, naturally. We learned later that Ryan had called an early end to the outing as the weather was closing in again, hence the need for speed.

Back on board we went for a hot drink in the lounge while downloading and sorting photos. Meanwhile the mist, which had lifted somewhat, closed again and turned to fog. Once everyone was back on board and the zodiacs berthed, we lifted anchor and set off further south on the planned route through the Hinolpen Strait which separates the main island, Spitzbergen, from the second largest, Nordauslandet. The Ocean Explorer’s daily programme told us that the strait varies between 10 and 60 km wide and measures 150 km in length. It is named after seventeenth-century Dutch merchant, Thijmen Jacobsz Hinlopen.

As we travelled the mist closed in again, as Ryan had expected it to, and turned to fog. The intention had been to look for polar bears on the small islands in the strait, but it seemed clear that no one would be seeing much at all through the fog.

We went to lunch (great 'build it yourself' Caesar salad) and enjoyed chatting with fellow Brits Dave and Carolyn, and with expedition team historian Ian.

Towards the end of the meal Ian received a message informing him that he was to give a presentation that afternoon on the history of Svalbard! This then was the alternative to polar bear viewing – not quite the same but it nevertheless promised to be interesting. And so it proved, as Ian is a good story-teller, though I wished he'd been allocated a little more time as he seemed to rush at times.

After the talk we went to the shop as I'd realised the waterproof trousers I'd brought with me were letting in a little water through the back seam where some of the fabric had perished. They promised 'reasonable prices' although $80 seemed a lot to me!

After a quiet afternoon in our cabin we went to the evening recap and briefing. As well as a talk about the guillemots from Nigel and another about last night's blue whales from Ema, Ryan gave his usual general update on the voyage. We learned that it had been an eventful night, accounting for the noise we had heard. The Ocean Explorer had been asked by the coastguard to come to the aid of a sailing ship where someone had been hurt in an accident, as we were the nearest ship. We had diverted towards it and were preparing to send a zodiac to bring the injured man aboard. The plan was that he would then be airlifted from our ship; however just then the rescue helicopter arrived and was able to send someone down to the yacht to lift him directly from there, so we were able to resume our course.

We also saw some of Kris's excellent photos taken that morning, which as I've previously mentioned I obtained permission to share.

Ryan also told us that this afternoon they had sent a zodiac to scout an island up ahead as it was thought there might be polar bears there. He was honest enough to tell us that there were but that he'd made the difficult decision not to take us there as it was impossible to do so within the rules that govern polar bear encounters. Although disappointing I fully respected him for that and for telling us when he didn't need to, and hope others felt the same way.

We'd been sitting with two friends for the briefings, Gillian and Sandra, so joined them for dinner. We then went to a talk by Mike about his experiences of spending winters on Antarctic research stations, which was very interesting. Soon after that it was time for bed, hoping for better weather for tomorrow's planned visit to the edge of the sea ice.