Through the Window

Burgerbukta, Hornsund – Spitsbergen, Svalbard (July 2011)

Hornsund: Ice Cruise in Burgerbukta

Wednesday, 6 July (Part II)

Located as it is at the southern end of Spitsbergen, it’s no surprise that the 18.5-mile (30 km) long Hornsund was one of the first fjords to be discovered by the British and Dutch whalers that came to the area in the early 17th century. The fjord was named in 1610 by Jonas Poole, an English whaler. His inspiration for the name — a reindeer antler that was found here. The “sund” portion of the name is a misnomer since Hornsund is not a strait that cuts through to the east side of Spitsbergen as Poole presumed. The fjord was charted in 1872 by an Austrian expedition led by Count Wilczek. Many of the geographic features within Hornsund were, in fact, named at that time.

Our afternoon zodiac cruise will take us to the glacier ahead.

Of the several bukter (bays) in Hornsund, Silver Explorer anchored in Burgerbukta at the head of the fjord, thus affording us an opportunity to see a great deal of the landscape on all sides. But we weren’t satisfied with just viewing the scenery from the ship. Following our unplanned early morning zodiac outing (post here), we headed out for a second zodiac cruise around 9:00a to get up close and personal with … you guessed it … ICE! Ice in the form of bergy bits. Ice in the form of icebergs. Ice in the form of a 1.2-mile (2 km) wide glacier terminus! Pops, crackles, and snaps — the bergs spoke to us in a unique language as our boat navigated the ice-choked water near the glacier. We hoped the giant river of ice would calve and drop more ice into the water, but it wasn’t to be.

No need to use words to describe the fantastic landscape we found ourselves in … just enjoy the images. And yes; a great deal of the ice we saw was that blue! (The ice absorbs all spectrums of light, except for the blue. The older the ice, the more compacted and the bluer it is.)

I love how this berg mimics the shape of the mountain behind it.

Black-Legged Kittiwakes roost on ice that has calved off the glacier.

Before we left the glacier behind, Uli (oceanographer/zodiac driver) fished out a piece of clear ice to bring aboard the zodiac. “Hmmm, that’s fresh, cold water,” he proclaimed after sucking off the exterior saltiness. We let him be the sole taster, but did pass the chunk around to give everyone aboard our zodiac an opportunity to touch a fragment of thousands of years old ice.

I have to tell you … it was awfully difficult to return to the ship when our allotted time at the glacier was up. I could have easily stayed aboard the zodiac all day, exploring all the bits of ice, both big and small.

That’s a pretty big chunk of ice next to the ship!

All wasn’t lost, however. Aboard the Silver Explorer, we had opportunities to watch chunks of beautiful ice floating by on their way out to sea. Here now … gone tomorrow.

A most excellent outing!

Hornsund: A First Look at Spitsbergen

Wednesday, 6 July
Latitude at Wake Up: 77°02’26” N 
Temperature at wake up: 36F (2.2C)

“The most remarkable mountains I have seen, are situated
near Horn Sound … Horn Mount, or Hedge-Hog Mount, so
called from an appearance of spines on the top when seen in
some positions, takes its rise from a small tract of alpine land,
on the southern side of Horn Sound.”

William Scoresby, An Account of the Arctic Regions
(Taken from the Silversea Chronicles)

We’ve arrived at Spitsbergen, the largest of the islands that make up the Svalbard Archipelago. If our first day up here is anything to go by, we’re in for a real treat as we continue to explore these northern latitudes.

Our day started with a polar bear and a couple of ringed seals, and continued with birds and beluga whales. But it didn’t end there. There was more. The mountains awed us. The ice … the ice left us speechless. From the smallest bits floating around the bay; to the fast ice attached to the shoreline; to the icebergs and bergy bits showing us glimpses of their inner blue; to the immense rivers of thick ice flowing from the high reaches of the land to the edge of the water — I was in ice heaven. I didn’t mind the overcast — the clouds added a moodiness that seemed fitting somehow. But when the sun broke out briefly during our zodiac cruise, the scenery changed from beautiful to magnificent.

So, that was our day in Hornsund in a nutshell. Now for the details.

We put a check mark next to Hornsund and cross off two places listed on our tentative
voyage itinerary; The ice is not going to allow us to explore the eastern islands of Svalbard.
[map on the top right: courtesy of the Norwegian polar institute website;
map on the bottom right: courtesy of the Spitsbergen-Svalbard website]

Like Bjørnøya, the small bit of Svalbard that we visited yesterday, Spitsbergen was first sighted in 1596 by Willem Barents, the Dutch explorer. Others — namely the Vikings and the Russian pomors (White Sea settlers), hunters, and fishermen — knew of these lands already, but Barents was the one to name them for the jagged, pointy mountains that seemingly rose out of the ice and the sea — hence, Spitsbergen (spits = pointed; bergen = mountains).

(The image to the left depicts one of the stories about why Bjørnøya was named Bear Island.)

Whaling started in 1610, and the first Norwegians overwintered in 1795-96. The first tourists came in 1891, and coal mining began in 1901 with the arrival of John Munro Longyear, who established Longyearbyen, now the administrative center of the archipelago. Until 1920, Spitsbergen was a no man’s land. That year, the Spitsbergen Treaty awarded the administration of the archipelago to Norway while at the same time guaranteeing the signatories free access for scientific research. In 1925, the archipelago was renamed Svalbard, with Spitsbergen remaining as the name of the island.

glimpse of Burgerbukta (Burger Bay) from our suite.

When we woke up at 6:00a we had no idea where we were. The ship was still moving — albeit slowly. It was quiet — no banging and clanging sounds as Robin had warned might be the case if the ship had to make its way through ice to enter Hornsund. There were mountains and glaciers; and the water was flat calm. We were obviously in a fjord. Had the Captain managed to get into Hornsund? Or were we in Bellsund, our alternate site? The answer came shortly from the night butler who delivered our room service breakfast. “We’re in Hornsund,” he said as he set the table. Then, bidding us an excellent day, he left us to enjoy our morning repast. Not so fast!

We’d just started to nibble on the warm croissants in the pastry basket when the chime of the PA system rang through the cabin. It had to be important if an announcement was being made at 6:45a! And it was! The ship was going to drop anchor for an unplanned zodiac cruise to see a polar bear that had been sighted on the fast ice. We were already dressed in all but our waterproof layers, so it didn’t take long for us to get the rest of our gear together. We even had time to walk around the outside decks while we waited to be called to the mudroom to collect our boots (it was Group 2’s turn to go first).

There is a bear somewhere out there.

When our turn came, we lost no time in heading to the gangway. Once in the zodiac, Robin gave us additional instructions — to stay especially quiet so as not to disturb the bear — and off we went.

Now, don’t get me wrong; we were happy to see the polar bear resting on the ice. However, having already been to Churchill (Winnipeg, Canada) to see polar bears, we’re admittedly spoiled. After that nearly nose-to-nose experience with the “ice masters,” a distant cream-colored dot did not generate the same excitement in us that it did in others for whom this was their first polar bear encounter in the wild. (Photos of the polar bears of Churchill are here.)

Without my long lens, this bear would be a mere dot in the distance.
(yes; I could have cropped the photo, but this gives you a sense of the environment
in which we saw the bear.)

Thanks to binoculars — and a cooperative bear that remained where it was — we watched the bear for a while, hoping against hope that it might come a bit closer. After all, they are curious animals. Nope; the bear was quite happy where it was (about 300+ feet [100 m] from the edge of the ice) and wasn’t about to budge to please a boatload of tourists.

Also on the ice, but a fair distance away, we noted two ringed seals — alert, but resting comfortably. I imagine the flat ice provided them with a safety zone since the bear had no way of sneaking up on them. To boot, I’m sure they were lying near a breathing hole that they could escape into should the bear make an attempt on its favorite food anyway.

zodiacs in an ice jam at the bear sighting!

For me, the best part of this unscheduled outing was the chance to get close to the ice and enjoy the scenery. With the zodiacs nosed into the ice and everyone quietly watching the bear, it was quite peaceful out there. I didn’t even care that it was overcast and dull at that moment; just being there — within touching distance of the ice — was enough to make me happy. What can I say, I’ve been infected with the ice virus through and through.

Ice baby, Ice!

a berg Frozen in ice and time — at least for now.

All too soon, it was time for us to return to the ship to give the next two groups a chance at seeing the polar bear.

Since our room service breakfast had been interrupted, the first order of business was to get a bit of sustenance from the buffet in The Restaurant. Afterwards, a couple of laps around Deck 6 provided the opportunity for a bit of exercise with high entertainment value (meaning, we had great scenery).

Left: Zodiac parking lot!
right: and that’s how you wash windows on the silver explorer!
(The mountains in the distance are part of the Sofiekammen [kammen = ridge]).

I’ll write about our two planned activities in separate posts. For now, I’ll continue with the rest of our day. Following our second zodiac cruise of the morning, we decided to have lunch at the outdoor grill on Deck 6 aft. We were hoping the peek-a-boo sun would grace us, but it wasn’t meant to be. Regardless, we had a good meal — Caesar salads topped with grilled halibut; washed down with a couple of ice cold beers.

An al fresco meal with wool blankets to keep us warm.

We really enjoyed exploring Hornsund from both sea and land. Different perspectives and ever-changing light conditions encouraged everyone to exercise their shutter fingers throughout the day.

I mentioned that we saw beluga whales today. There were two sightings. One was while we were on our second zodiac cruise. Unfortunately, our boat wasn’t one of the lucky ones. Later, as the ship was approaching the landing site for our afternoon activity, we saw more belugas. But they were far, far away; swimming near the shoreline. They were mere white dots, easily mistaken for white caps had we not been told otherwise. That’s the way it goes with wildlife sightings. You win some; you lose some. I hope there will be better sightings ahead. In the meantime, here’s a tidbit about these beautiful white whales. Like other Arctic whale species, they don’t have a dorsal fin. This not only means they have less surface area for losing heat to the environment, but it also allows them to more easily swim beneath the ice as they navigate to breathing holes.

Where there was once no ice around the ship, we now have plenty.

This being an “expedition day,” there were no lectures this afternoon. At 7:00p, we gathered in the Theater for the daily recap (which is where I learned about Arctic whales and lack of dorsal fins). The Q&A session answered our questions about some of the tiny wildflowers we tried our best not to tread upon during our landing — moss campion, purple and yellow saxifrage. Such tiny things, yet able to survive the harsh Arctic conditions to spring back to life during the short summer months.

clockwise From top Left: moss campion, yellow marsh saxifrage, saxifrage (pre-bloom, I believe),
and purple saxifrage.

Next, Robin took the stage to outline what’s in the works for tomorrow. In the morning, the plan is to explore Bellsund, located about 78 nautical miles (90 miles/144 km) north of Hornsund. It’s the next fjord along the west coast of Spitsbergen. There’s nothing but open water ahead to hinder us. But, hey; this is the Arctic, so you never know. In the meantime, we’ve been warned to expect rain and colder temps.

As for the afternoon, we’re going to spend it at sea, making our way further north and around the tip of Spitsbergen. Again, there’s open water and Robin wants to take advantage of that while we can.

Following the recap, we made our way to The Restaurant for dinner. This time our tablemates were a couple from Austria, and Christina and Bob, whose company we've enjoyed before.

I’m the first to admit that I’m a picky eater. I’m not very adventurous either. I kept dinner simple tonight, ordering the roasted potato soup and entrée-sized orzo risotto from the appetizer side of the menu. Very satisfying. Mui was pleased with his choice of a salad, followed by duck breast as his main course. Having skipped an appetizer, he had room for dessert — a chocolate bombe filled with orange crème caramel. (Yes, he shared his dessert with me; though I did have to threaten him with a sleepover on Deck 7 aft if he didn’t!)

I’ll leave you with something that struck me as quite funny. Unbeknownst to each other, we each took a photo of ourselves today … from about the same spot, but with slightly different backgrounds.

These photos will never make it to Two to Travel’s Viewfinder; but they sure gave us a chuckle or two before bedtime!