This morning, while setting anchor off of Gnaalodden in southwestern Spitsbergen, one guest reported watching two Arctic foxes gamboling and chasing one another across the beach strand. Once our hiking parties were ashore the little canines themselves were nowhere to be found but their tracks were easy to pick out here, there and everywhere in a shallow depression filled with seaweed and organic debris. Like other members of the dog family the Arctic fox tracks show four toe pads, a well-defined heel pad and claw marks. This track also shows some compression features that suggest it was made by one of the active foxes observed before landing. The sharpness of the print and the edges of the cracks tell us this track was made today. The cracks in the ground to the left and behind the track as well as the deeper toe prints on that side suggest a fox moving at high speed and perhaps stopping, or slowing suddenly, and turning to the left. Two foxes chasing one another in play might employ such a move frequently. Admittedly, seeing the foxes themselves might have been more exciting but it’s always good, and often fun, to sharpen the eye and exercise the old brain by working with the clues before you to paint a picture for the mind’s eye.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 02 Aug 2001
From the Endeavour in Norway, 8/2/2001, National Geographic Endeavour
- Aboard the National Geographic Endeavour
- Arctic
Sign Up for Daily Expedition Reports
Fields with an asterisk (*) are required.
Enter travel details to receive reports from a single expedition
Send Daily Expedition Reports to friends and family
*By clicking the submit button, I authorize Lindblad Expeditions to email me; however, I am able to unsubscribe at any time. For more details, see our Privacy Policy.
Please note: All Daily Expedition Reports (DERs) are posted Monday-Friday,
during normal business hours. DERs are written onboard the ship only and do
not apply to land-based portions of expeditions.