Day 7, Cloudy, light breeze, temperature 1 degrees celsius. That in combination with the cold surface of the ocean made it the coldest day sofar. Me personaly I like the cold, it makes you feel alive just by breathing.
It was cold when we entered the zodiacs for the long cruise into the small bay south of Kapp Lee. Here there were no Walruses, although they are frequently observed here. We were pleasantly surprised to find several animals milling about in the small bay.
The landing area has an interesting history. Already in the 18th century the site was used by Russian Pomors, mainly hunting Walruses. Along the beach we found the remains from those days, a cemetery of bleached bones.
In 1904 Norwegian hunters settled here hunting mainly for Polar Bears, but also for Walrus and Arctic Fox.
In 1968/69 the site was used by Dutch scientists that were conducting research on Svalbard Reindeer for several years. They crossed the Tundra all over Edgeoya to learn more about these animals. There where two conditions one had to meet before being allowed to work here:
*no girls
*no guns
The ban of guns made it dangerous, the expedition leader Piet Ossterveld was, all by himself, on the tundra when he got attacked by a Polar Bear. He survived but he got seriously injured, he was very lucky. The attacking bear later was shot. They stuffed the Polar Bear and it is to be seen in the hospital of Longyearbyen.
Now it was time for a hike. We came accross nesting Black Guillemots and Gloucous Gull, Reindeer and Grey Phalarope. There where also bones of Polar Bear, Walrus, Bowhead Whale and Reindeer.
Here was clearly less vegetation compared to the west side of Svalbard.
Time to get back to the ship for a well deserved lunch.
After lunch we tried to land on Barentsoya in Freemansundet. This was not possible because there was simply too much ice to get near the coast. Our expedition leader had a great back up plan. We jumped into the zodiacs and went for an 'ice is nice' cruise.
It gave a completely different perspective cruising the ice at sea level. The zodiac made it's coarse towards the southern part of Edgeoya. On the way down we came accrose some more Walruses. The Walruses where not bothered at all by the unexpected visitors so we had the perfect oppurtunity for some nice pictures of these blubber giants.
It was wonderfull to see all the different ice sculptures and the magnificent colors in the ice. The trip lasted almost two hours and it was freezing cold at the surface of the water.
It was an amazing cruise, it was super cold just sitting in the zodiac for two hours but it was worth it. When we returned to the ship some drank some hot tea, other hot coffee just to warm up.
Still more to come from this 11 day trip!
Check out previous posts:
Day 1: https://steemit.com/travel/@icgoodthings/a-journey-to-svalbard-or-spitsbergen
Day 2: https://steemit.com/arctic/@icgoodthings/a-journey-to-svalbard-or-spitsbergen-day-2
Day 3: https://steemit.com/arctic/@icgoodthings/a-journey-to-svalbard-or-spitsbergen-day-2
Day3-2 : https://steemit.com/travel/@icgoodthings/a-journey-to-svalbard-or-spitsbergen-day-3-part-ii
Day 4-1: https://steemit.com/travel/@icgoodthings/a-journey-to-svalbard-or-spitsbergen-day-4-part-i
Day4-2: https://steemit.com/travel/@icgoodthings/a-journey-to-svalbard-or-spitsbergen-day-4-part-ii
Day 5: https://steemit.com/travel/@icgoodthings/a-journey-to-svalbard-or-spitsbergen-day-5
Day 6: https://steemit.com/travel/@icgoodthings/a-journey-to-svalbard-or-spitsbergen-day-6
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