Hornsund, Spitsbergen
Early morning found the Endeavour cruising through heavy mist as we headed for the deep fjord system known as Hornsund, on the southwestern tip of Spitsbergen. This place obtained its name from a seafarer called Jonas Poole who in 1610 discovered a number of reindeer antlers or horns here. Visibility was far from optimum but the ‘luck of the Irish’ must have been with us, as if on cue, the fog dissipated and the light broke through revealing an awe inspiring landscape backdrop just as the Endeavour arrived at its designated stop for the morning, the impressive fjord known as Burgerbukta.
At the head of the fjord is a highly active glacier called Paierlbreen. The water was littered with recently calved and fantastically shaped icebergs. The sides of the fjord are composed of very ancient rocks which rise to dizzying heights down which cascaded numerous small melt water streams. Following breakfast guests went kayaking or took zodiac cruises. One of the highlights was the spotting of a pod of five beluga whales close by the glacier face. This species has a uniform light coloration with the adults growing to between 3 and 5 meters in length and extremely well adapted to maneuvering in shallow water. This was a close encounter of a very special sort. At this time of the year the belugas are in the final stages of molting and were busily scratching themselves across the submerged boulders and sediments removing the last remnants of old skin. It is estimated that there is between 5,000 and 10,000 of these whales in the Svalbard area. The glacier was extremely crevassed and pieces were breaking off and plunging into the fjord as we slowly picked our way between the floating icebergs. The glacial features in this area are text book examples and with the constantly shifting and changing light, were extremely picturesque.
During lunch the Endeavour repositioned just beyond Burgerbukta to a point known as Gnaalodden, a Norwegian word meaning cackle owing to the incessant noise emanating from a large colony of black legged kittiwakes and Brunnich’s guillemots. These birds find ample nesting sites on the numerous ledges on the high rock face. Following lunch we went ashore to explore and were lucky to come across a number of young guillemots and adult male birds on a small pond about fifty meters back from the shore. The youngsters had taken their maiden freefall in preparation for venturing out to sea with the males and unfortunately had fallen short of their target. The adult birds were encouraging them to make a dash for the sea as a number of glaucous gulls circled, instinctively sensing potential pickings.
On our walk we came on the remains of what appeared to be an English whaling base and a single grave marked with a pile of stones possibly dating to the seventeenth century. Also located here is an old trappers hut which was last used in 1971. There is a long history of hunting and trapping on Svalbard. Besides the fifty or so whaling stations from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there are numerous trappers huts dotted around the archipelago. Svalbard was divided into a total of 45 recognized trapping territories. The hunters were dropped off by ship with their supplies and team of dogs. They were constantly busy, procuring driftwood, repairing the cabins, hunting and looking after their dogs. The trappers had to be both physically and mentally fit for the extremely demanding work during the 4 months of darkness. Polar bear and fox skins were the main items sought after. Huge numbers of bears were killed, especially following the development of the cocked gun-box. When the bear placed its head into the box to retrieve bait a shot was released. This had disastrous results for the polar bear. The trapper Henri Rudi for example killed over 750 bears, 115 of them in a record year. Our wonderful day was finished off with the sighting of a number of humpbacked whales as the Endeavour charted a course south bound for Bear Island.
Early morning found the Endeavour cruising through heavy mist as we headed for the deep fjord system known as Hornsund, on the southwestern tip of Spitsbergen. This place obtained its name from a seafarer called Jonas Poole who in 1610 discovered a number of reindeer antlers or horns here. Visibility was far from optimum but the ‘luck of the Irish’ must have been with us, as if on cue, the fog dissipated and the light broke through revealing an awe inspiring landscape backdrop just as the Endeavour arrived at its designated stop for the morning, the impressive fjord known as Burgerbukta.
At the head of the fjord is a highly active glacier called Paierlbreen. The water was littered with recently calved and fantastically shaped icebergs. The sides of the fjord are composed of very ancient rocks which rise to dizzying heights down which cascaded numerous small melt water streams. Following breakfast guests went kayaking or took zodiac cruises. One of the highlights was the spotting of a pod of five beluga whales close by the glacier face. This species has a uniform light coloration with the adults growing to between 3 and 5 meters in length and extremely well adapted to maneuvering in shallow water. This was a close encounter of a very special sort. At this time of the year the belugas are in the final stages of molting and were busily scratching themselves across the submerged boulders and sediments removing the last remnants of old skin. It is estimated that there is between 5,000 and 10,000 of these whales in the Svalbard area. The glacier was extremely crevassed and pieces were breaking off and plunging into the fjord as we slowly picked our way between the floating icebergs. The glacial features in this area are text book examples and with the constantly shifting and changing light, were extremely picturesque.
During lunch the Endeavour repositioned just beyond Burgerbukta to a point known as Gnaalodden, a Norwegian word meaning cackle owing to the incessant noise emanating from a large colony of black legged kittiwakes and Brunnich’s guillemots. These birds find ample nesting sites on the numerous ledges on the high rock face. Following lunch we went ashore to explore and were lucky to come across a number of young guillemots and adult male birds on a small pond about fifty meters back from the shore. The youngsters had taken their maiden freefall in preparation for venturing out to sea with the males and unfortunately had fallen short of their target. The adult birds were encouraging them to make a dash for the sea as a number of glaucous gulls circled, instinctively sensing potential pickings.
On our walk we came on the remains of what appeared to be an English whaling base and a single grave marked with a pile of stones possibly dating to the seventeenth century. Also located here is an old trappers hut which was last used in 1971. There is a long history of hunting and trapping on Svalbard. Besides the fifty or so whaling stations from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there are numerous trappers huts dotted around the archipelago. Svalbard was divided into a total of 45 recognized trapping territories. The hunters were dropped off by ship with their supplies and team of dogs. They were constantly busy, procuring driftwood, repairing the cabins, hunting and looking after their dogs. The trappers had to be both physically and mentally fit for the extremely demanding work during the 4 months of darkness. Polar bear and fox skins were the main items sought after. Huge numbers of bears were killed, especially following the development of the cocked gun-box. When the bear placed its head into the box to retrieve bait a shot was released. This had disastrous results for the polar bear. The trapper Henri Rudi for example killed over 750 bears, 115 of them in a record year. Our wonderful day was finished off with the sighting of a number of humpbacked whales as the Endeavour charted a course south bound for Bear Island.
