Edgeøya walruses and dolphins

After a good night’s sleep I awoke to find it less foggy but still with poor visibility. However as we ate breakfast it started to improve and immediately afterwards I went up to the observation deck to take photos of the nearby island, Edgeøya.

Walrus haul out, Edgeøya

The plan for the morning was to go ashore here to see a walrus haul out from the land. However soon after breakfast Ryan told us that a polar bear had been spotted on the hill behind the foreshore so a landing was out of the question. Instead we would go out in the zodiacs to observe the walruses from the sea.

The haul out was right by some old huts from the former hunting station at Kapp Lee. According to the Ocean Explorer’s daily programme,
Kapp Lee holds one of Svalbard`s largest remaining historical slaughtering places for walrus. At this historical site we can see hut foundations and brick fragments, the remains of an 18th century hunting station of the Pomors (Russians from the White Sea area), as well as more recent huts from Norwegian hunters.

Our boat driver/guide was Tara and she was great at both sharing information and getting us into very good spots for photos and views. We lingered offshore for some time near the walrus haul out. And although it was sometimes difficult to get photos with the movement of the zodiac, I took loads to be fairly sure of a few decent ones.

After a while here the polar bear appeared on the rocky ridge above us. He/she was silhouetted there for a short while before returning back down the far side.

Soon after this Ryan, who had gone further along the coast, radioed the guides to say that there were some reindeer grazing there. Tara asked if we wanted to see them and there was a unanimous yes, so she took us along the coast to where there were four reindeer, all males with their antlers in velvet. She told us that those antlers would drop in September.

After a while here we returned to the walruses, now nicely backlit and with some swimming in front of the beach. Tara estimated there were over 100 in this group (Ema was to tell us later that she thought it was closer to 160, all male)!

All too soon it was time to return to the ship where a fair bit of swell made climbing out of the zodiac a little interesting!

Barentsøya

While we ate lunch the ship headed to our afternoon destination on the neighbouring island of Barentsøya, where walks through the tundra were planned. However on a trip like this a plan is no guarantee that a specific activity will happen, as we’d already learned. On this occasion the wind was already making use of the zodiacs look doubtful when polar bears, a mother and cub, were spotted on a ridge above the area where we were to have landed. We went on deck to see them, but they were too far away for my camera to get any decent images. However our resident photographer Kris was more successful.

As I couldn’t photograph the bears I focused instead on the bleak but beautiful landscapes of Barentsøya.

The bears settled it, another quiet afternoon on board. But the Quark team always find ways to keep you as occupied (or otherwise) as you want to be, and today was no exception. They offered tours of the bridge, in small groups, which we decided to do. We got a good look around and explanations of quite a few of the instruments, of which there were many! I found it very interesting, although my only disappointment was that no photos were allowed, by request of the captain.

After that Chris and I decided to try the sauna, offering picture window views. We got so warm that we felt brave enough to go out on the open deck to spend time in one of the hot tubs. It was really wonderful sitting in the warm water and watching the sea slide past beneath us. This time though it was me requesting no photos please!

Afternoon tea and a talk about climate change and human impact on this environment were available in the main lounge but we chose to spend a bit of time relaxing in the library and then catching up on messages etc. in our cabin.

Towards the end of the afternoon there was an announcement that dolphins had been spotted on the port side of the ship. As our cabin was on the starboard side we grabbed our parkas and cameras and went out on the small open area on our deck four. It was hard to get any photos, let alone good ones, but I managed some sort of record shot. I later learned these were white beaked dolphins.

We went to the usual recap and briefing. Ema told us more about Svalbard reindeer, including the fact that unlike the males we'd seen this morning females keep their antlers through the winter until their calves are born. And Ian had a fascinating tale of four Russian sailors who were stranded on Edgeoya for six years after the ship they'd been on was forced by the sea ice to sail away without them. They were given up for dead but survived by making spears with driftwood and the nails from old cabin which they used to kill reindeer and other animals. They were rescued by a passing ship and went home to find fame from their exploits and wealth from the fox furs they had accumulated.

We had dinner with Martin and Ann from Washington DC who were good company, then we returned to hear this evening's bar talk which was possibly the best yet. Tara told us about her adventurous and successful attempt ten years ago to be the first (with two male companions) to circumnavigate the four main islands of Svalbard in a kayak. There were tales of hairy polar bear encounters (including waking up to find a bear on top of the tent!), a rival Norwegian team and some wonderful images of ice cliffs and walruses in addition to those bears. Engrossing stuff to round off the day.