During lunch the ship moved further into the Kongsfjord. Before we jumped into the Zodiacs everyone dressed warmly for a longer cruise along Kongsbreen. It became an exciting and magical one amonst big blue icebergs, bearded seals on ice floes, some harbour seals on a small, lone rock and an Arctic fox that ran back and forth. PolarQuests guides are blogging from the ship Sea Endurance. Here you will find an excerpt from the trip on 17-25 May 2017.
19th of May 2017
Friday started with a guided walk in Ny Ålesund. We divided ourselves into two smaller groups and went through the small community that hosts researchers from all over the world. We visited the shop to buy souvenirs and to send letters and postcards at the world's northernmost post office.
During lunch, the ship moved further into the Kongsfjord. Before we jumped in the Zodiaces, everyone warmly dressed for a longer cruise along Kongsbreen. It became an exciting and magical cruise amongst big blue icebergs, bearded seals on ice floes, some harbour seals on a small, lone rock and an Arctic fox that ran back and forth under a cliff where kittiwakes had gathered to nest. During dinner, which was incredibly good, the hot topic was the calving glacier and the bearded seal with a pup.
20th of May 2017
After a cloudy day, we woke up to the perfect view in the Magdalene fjord. Inside the fjord, the water was mirror-like and the sun shone over the towering peaks and the glaciers between them. We saw some walruses in the water and decided to have a closer look at these magnificent animals. We jumped into the Zodiacs and once on spot, we saw that there were dozens of male walruses in the snow. We made a quick decision to make a landing to get even closer. After quite some time together with these grand gentlemen we were starting to think about heading back, but right then, two more walruses came out of the water and curiously looked at us before one decided to climb up to his friends just in front of us.
Vänligen notera! Beroende på vilket objektiv som används för fotografering eller videoupptagning kan ett djur uppfattas närmare än vad det är. Vi följer alltid rådande riktlinjer i Arktis för att försäkra oss om att vi inte stör djurlivet.