Expedition log MS Nordstjernen Svalbard July 28th 31st 2015
Tuesday, July 28 th 17:00, 78 10 N Longyearbyen This is a Norwegian settlement and the capital of Svalbard. It is named after the american John Munroe Longyear who started the first coal production in the Longyear valley in 1906. It was bought by a Norwegian mine company in 1916. Today the town is a modern town with almost every civilised facility you can imagine. The population is app. 2000 and increasing. Longyearbyen was originally a mining community, but now science and tourism are slowly taking over. After breakfast at the hotel we went sightseeing in town. We visited the museum and the gallery. At 17:00 we embarked the MS Nordstjernen and our Arctic Adventure started. The ship sailed out of Adventfjorden and west towards Barentsburg, passing the former coalmining settlements Grumant and Coles Bay. Tuesday, July 28 th 20:00, 78 14 N Barentsburg Barentsburg is currently the only Russian settlement on Svalbard there used to be two more: Grumant which closed down in the 1960 s, and Pyramiden which closed down in 1998. Barentsburg is a mining settlement on the east side of Grønfjorden. The first house was built in 1912 by a Norwegian company and then sold to the Dutch N.V. Nederlandsche Spitsbergen Compagnie. It was bought by the Russians in 1932. In Barentsburg there are currently app. 400 inhabitants. We went on a guided tour with a Russian guide, and some joined a genuine and entertaining modern russian folklore show, which the mine workers perform in their spare time. We also visited the hotel, and some of us tried the Russian Vodka. Barentsburg, located along the eastern shore of Grønfjorden 60 km to the west of Longyearbyen.
Wednesday July 29 th 10:00 79 36 N Liefdefjorden and Texas Bar In the morning we sailed into the beautiful Liefdefjord. Liefde is Dutch for love, so Liefdefjorden means The Fjord of Love. We made our first landing in Texas Bar, where the sun was shining. III IV II I Woodfjorden and Liefdefjorden. The spectacular glacier front of Monacofjorden is located in the lower left corner (I). II. Texas Bar; III. Worsleyhamn; IV. Mushamna Texas Bar Here, close to the shore line, is a tiny cabin build at the beginning of the last century by Hilmar Nois, a famous norwegian Trapper. We had a look inside the cabin and got a taste of how the life was as a hunter back in those days. Our guides told us many interesting facts and stories about that time before we went on hike towards a bay south of the cabin. The tundra was covered with small, beautiful arctic flowers. We passed a bird cliff with hundreds of noisy Kittywakes and got a wonderful view towards the gigantic Monaco glacier while walking down to the bay. Some of us even went for a swim in the ice cold water. After the landing we set course for Moffen. On our way out of the fjord, we spotted a polar bear!! While the young female bear walked around, we were lucky to enjoy the view of this majestic animal.
80 N & Moffen After lunch, we passed the 80 N parallel and this was celebrated on the aft deck with a toast. The North Atlantic is in fact the only place on the planet where you can be almost certain to pass the 80 th parallel with a ship the sourthern hemisphere is mostly ice-covered and at 80 S you will hit a continent. An interesting thought is that there were hardly any other people between M/S Nordstjernen and the North Pole at this time! Moffen is a lagoon slightly north of 80ºN latitude. It is a very flat and peculiar ring shaped island and its maximum altitude is about five meters. This small island is mostly known for heaps of male walrus chilling out on the beach. The island is classified as a protected walrus reserve and no ships are allowed closer than 300 metres. Walrus is the largest seal species in the Arctic being as heavy as two metric tons characteristics are impressive tusks, absence of beauty, lack of charm and a rather unpleasant smell. Moffen is a peculiar-looking island that is commonly habitated by walrus. Wednesday July 29 th 19:00 Raudfjorden After watching the whalruses on Moffen, we set course to Raudfjorden, and Jørn Hurum gave us a lecture about the Devonian era on Svalbard. Raudfjorden means Red Fjord and is named so due to abundant red rocks in the region. These are sandstone from the Devonian (app. 300-400 mill years ago) when Svalbard was a desert at 30ºN. Raudfjorden is the westernmost fjord on the north coast of Spitsbergen. Several glaciers calve into this fjord and it s often filled with ice which have calved from the glaciers. As we sailed into the fjord, Jørn Hurum showed us these red mountains with their very clear sediment layers. He explained to us that these mountains might contain some interesting fossils, which could help us explain the evolution of jawlesss fish in the sea to land based aninals!
Thursday, July 30 th 10:00 Lilliehöökfjorden We woke up in Lilliehöökfjorden, where we the put the tender boats in the water and started our cruise along the front of the Lilliehöök glacier. We were lucky to see some glacier calving activity, and hundreds of kittiwakes close to the glacier front. Lilliehöök glacier is surounded by spectacular mountains and the front is more than 10 km long. After lunch, Jørn Hurum gave us another lecture this time about the research he and his team have conducted on Svalbard since 2003. Every summer they have excavated numerous sites and found interesting marine reptile fossils dating back from the Jurassic period! Møllerfjorden & Lloyds hotel After lunch we went ashore at the Lloyds Hotel. This is a small cabin, built by «Hamburg Amerikalinje / Norddeutscher Lloyd». The bright painted cabin was built for travelers in need of a shelter. We walked around in the sun, and listened to the glaciers rumbling in the fjords. It was great to simply sit back and comtemplate the vast Arctic scenery around us. Before going back on board, many of us could not handle the summer heat and went for a swin in the ice cold water. Thursday, July 30 th 20:00, 78 56 N Ny-Å lesund Ny-Ålesund is the world s northernmost community. As we came onshore we went on a guided tour in town. Ny- Ålesund is a former mining village which has become an important international research centre - mainly on the atmosphere and ozone layer but also geological, biological and glacial research is carried out here. Downtown Ny- Ålesund you will find a small centre with a shop, a post-office and a museum. Ny-Ålesund was the focal point for the world s attention several times during the 1920 s. In 1925 Roald Amundsen attempted to reach the North Pole from Ny-Ålesund with the seaplanes N24 and N25. In 1926 Amundsen returned to
Ny-Ålesund, accompanied by the American Lincoln Elsworth and the Italian Umberto Nobile, to set out on a joint expedition with the airship Norge. This expedition was a success. The airship flew over the North Pole as planned and landed in Teller, Alaska. Some of us also visited the mast, which was used to lounch the airship Norge. In 1945 until 1962 we experienced the second mining period. But the problem with the coal layers in Ny-Ålesund is that they are almost vertical and gases develop in the mines. 70 miners have lost their life in the mines of Ny-Ålesund and the worst accident of them all happened November 5 th 1962. Late at night that day there was a big explosion in the Esther Mine and 21 miners lost their life. A committee made an investigation and they concluded that the Norwegian state should have been more concerned about the safety in Ny- Ålesund. Since Kings Bay was a state enterprice the public blamed the government. In August 1963, Prime Minister Gerhardsen and his government resigned as a result of this tragedy. Research started in Ny-Ålesund in 1964 and during the 1990 s research increased from 4,100 man-days in 1990 to 10,031 in 2000. Each year scientists from at least fifteen nations run more than 120 research projects. Kongsfjorden. Ny Ålesund is located to the south with London located on Blomstrandhalvøya just to the north. Our evening in Ny-Ålesund could not have been more magnificent. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. The scenary was simply breathtaking. Back onboard the ship and many of us stayed out on the aftdeck to enjoy the midnight sun. The captain set the course back to Longyearbyen and we started sailing out of the wonderful Kongsfjorden. Friday, July 31 st 09:00
Farewell gathering We gathered with the ships crew and the guides for a farewell ceremony. Certificates were handed out to the true heroes among us that took a swim in the chilly arctic water! And that was the end of our Svalbard summer adventure for this time. Are you sad to leave Svalbard? Are you curious about what it is like in the winter? Grab a copy of our catalogue or visit www.spitsbergentravel.com We hope to see you back again for another arctic adventure. Best regards from your cruise guides, Anne Marte, Kyrre, Remi, Yann, Andreas, Karolina and Helene