Polar Bear Adventures in Midnight Sun
Svalbard, June - September, 2007
Spitsbergen is a remote and spectacular archipelago of immense glaciers, narrow fjords and abundant wildlife. Let our comfortable expedition ships take you on a memorable journey into the realm of the polar bear under the midnight sun.
A 9-day expedition in Spitsbergen on board M/S Origo and M/S Stockholm >>
Our goal on this expedition is to explore the eastern and least visited parts of the beautiful
and dramatic Spitsbergen archipelago. In Spitsbergen there are twice as many polar bears
as there are people. The polar bear population is estimated to approximately 5 000, and we hope to encounter a good number of them during this trip. Fortunately both polar bears and walrus are now recovering after having been hunted for centuries, and now is a good time to visit before the area opens up to larger numbers of visitors.
We go ashore on beaches covered by massive walrus and with some good fortune we will also encounter whales. Seabirds, such as ivory gulls, guillemots, little auks and puffins will be our constant companions during the trip and we spend hours on end admiring these graceful and playful birds. We may even see the rare Ross’ gull. In the beginning of the season Spitsbergen’s flowers are in full bloom and the bird colonies are bustling with life. We experience our ship breaking large floes of pack ice, home to seals and their predator - the polar bear. In the latter part of the season we have very good possibilities of exploring the eastern parts of the archipelago and landing on fantastic Storöya, east of Nordaustlandet and a favourite area for both polar bears and walrus.
Please, read this itinerary as a guide only; our exact route and program will vary depending on ice and weather conditions - and the wildlife we encounter. Flexibility is the key to a successful expedition.
Day 1: Oslo - Longyearbyen
We arrive in Longyearbyen under the midnight sun and transfer to Radisson SAS Polar Hotel,
with a magnificent view of the Ice Fjord.
Day 2: Longyearbyen - Barentsburg
We explore Longyearbyen and visit the Svalbard Museum. Embark the Origo or the Stockholm in the afternoon and sail to the Russian enclave Barentsburg. A local guide shows us around this
fascinating coal mining settlement and we have a glass of Soviet champagne at the village hotel.
Day 3 - 7: Spitsbergen archipelago
Our exact itinerary depends on weather, ice conditions and the wildlife we encounter. Each
day we make several landings with our rigid Zodiac craft and thanks to the midnight sun we
can go ashore day and night. Here are a few of the many places we hope to visit:
Hornsund
A stunning bay on Spitsbergen’s southwest coast, where we cruise along massive glaciers winding their way down to the sea between alpine peaks.
Ny Ålesund
This is a unique opportunity to send a card from the world’s northernmost post office. Svalbard
reindeer roam through this town seemingly
unaware of our presence and Arctic terns nest
along the roads. It was here that Amundsen and
Nobile started their heroic attempts of reaching
the North Pole by airship.
Danes’ Island
Two of the most courageous attempts to reach the North Pole started here. Swedish balloonist
Andrée made an attempt with hydrogen balloon and American journalist Wellman started out with airship. We are guided around the site, which is littered with remnants from the heroic era.
East Spitsbergen
Heading east we meet the massive pack ice border. We are now off the beaten track in a wilderness virtually untouched by man. We enjoy the silence and the grandeur of this icy landscape. Here our odds of finding polar bears are the greatest, and we will keep a constant lookout on the bridge during our time in the ice. We cruise along a massive icecap stretching
down to the sea where it forms a long glacier front intersected by hundreds of melt-waterfalls.
This is a favourite area for seals, and where there are seals, there are bears.
Storöya
When ice conditions are light we can land on this isolated island east of Nordaustlandet. Storöya is a real gem and one of our favourite spots. We see large groups of walrus lounging on the beaches and polar bears are frequently spotted here.
Hinlopen Strait
It is exciting sailing though this strait, an area of very heavy ice concentrations. The waters here
are especially nutritious, which explains the large quantities of sea birds. We visit a colony of
600 000 guillemots nesting on vertical basaltic cliffs.
Day 8: Homeward bound
We retrace our route back to Longyearbyen and land on Prins Karls Forland. In the evening we
anchor in a bay and celebrate the completion of the expedition with a farewell dinner.
Day 9:
In the early morning we arrive in transfer to the airport and fly back to Oslo.