Our morning Zodiac excursion took us to walk on the beach of a 17th c. whaling operation at Gravneset, a peninsula extending into Gullybukta, a cove or bay of the Magdalenefjorden. There is a roped off graveyard on a hill where 130 men, mostly whalers, are buried. There are the remains of two blubber ovens. These are cooking zones that were used for rendering oil from the fat of hunted whales. Supposedly, the first group ashore saw an Arctic fox, but he was long gone by the time our group got there. There were Arctic turns sitting on nests throughout the area. The birds dive-bombed any of us who walked near them. After 40 minutes walking we got back on our Zodiac and went to see another haulout of walruses.
|
|
Gullybreen Glacier ending in Gullybukta
|
This cabin apparently belongs to the prime minister, or some other official, who visits occasionally
|
Graveyard containing the graves of some 130 men,
mostly whalers |
Memorial to whalers at the top of the graveyard
|
Blubber oven
|
From Gravneset, a short Zodiac ride took us to see another walrus haulout. This group was particularly interesting because several were in the water - as well as lying around in a pile on the beach.
|
Walrus haulout
|
Walrus the water
|
In the water, looking for shellfish on the bottom
|
After the stop at Gravneset, the MS World Traveller navigated through the Sorgattet Straight, between the island of Danskoya and the Albert I Land area of Svalbard, and into the southern end of Smeerenburgfjorden to the Bjornafjorden (the southern extension of the Smeerenburgfjorden). The afternoon Zodiac ride was to see tidal glaciers, including the large Smeerenburgbreen, and to look for the polar bear someone had spotted two hours before.
Floating around the bergy bits and growlers from the glaciers was fascinating, but the ice is less dense and not as green as what we saw in Antarctica. The glacier was majestic and impressive.
|
Bergy bit |
Tidewater glacier
|
Smeerenburgbreen
|
This piece of ice split and rolled while we were
watching from the ship
|
Note the "boiling" water that accompanied the split
|
Almost calm again
|
Putting out one of the Zodiacs
|
Bergy bit |
Colors and shapes
|
Smeerenburgbreen - Glacier ice - beautiful |
Moving away from the Smeerenburgbreen
|
Bergy bit
|
Growlers
|
Smeerenburgbreen
|
Reflection
|
Reflection
|
Interesting ice layers on this piece
|
Must be something to photograph!
|
After dinner we entered polar ice and crossed above 80° North latitude. 80° 33’19” was as far north as we finally got - about 656 miles from the geographic North Pole.
During the night, the ship moved in an easterly direction, staying around 80° north. The sun remained about 15 to 20 degrees above the horizon - it never got dark!
|
Polar ice
|
Polar ice - quite thick in places
|
TV from the ship's front camera |
|
Tues., 7/4/23 - Polar Ice and Hamiltonbukta in Raudfjorden
The MS World Traveller spent Independence Day among the polar ice floes around 80° North. The average floe here today is about the size of a basketball court and about 12 to 24 inches thick. The ship runs over some and we can feel the vibration as it pushes others to port or starboard. Still looking for polar bears or seals on the ice floes. None yet.
|
|
|
|
|
It is noisy when the ship hits and breaks up the ice
|
|
Tidal glacier
|
Dinner for the 4th of July was a barbecue outside on the pool deck in the middle of the scenic Hamiltonbukta that is in the Raudfjorden. It was chilly, but bearable. We had hot dogs, hamburgers, roasted whole pig, and all the picnic accompaniments. The ice cream dessert did not melt!
|