SvalbardStory - Teography.co

Svalbard, Norway - June 2022

Svalbard, Norway

This seemingly strange, yet majestic archipelago is welcoming to anyone willing to live in the harsh environment. A few basic conditions, you must be able to take care of yourself, you cannot die here, you cannot give birth here.

Arriving in here in the beginning of summer tests your idea of the high arctic. I've always envisioned snow packed land and snow machines for transport. The books and documentaries prepare you for dirt and flowers at 78° North, but seeing it first hand is something else entirely.

Landscape

Few places in the world allow you to walk on permafrost, bio-crust, and sea ice in one excursion. Surprise and wonder filled me when we made our first landing. Soft ground, running water, moss, lichen, and the smallest flowers you have ever seen. The hillside leading up to the looming cliffs colored a deep hue of purple saxifrage.

The landscape in Svalbard will simply leave you breathless.

A tiny waterfall, no more than a few inches tall, surrounded by lush green life. Summer is just beginning.

Sea ice speckles the deep blue-black water as we navigate in zodiacs closer to glacier.

Longyearbyen, Svalbard's settlement, is reliant to this day on coal to power the town. Here one of nine mines that dot the hillsides around town.

I'm told by a local guide, this is the tallest tree in Svalbard.

Svalbard poppies peaking up over a rock

Purple saxifrage, just in bloom, covering the hillsides in a deep, yet vibrant shade.

Walking atop the bio-crust on Southwestern Edgeøya

Trees don't grow on Svalbard. Due to the short summer and long polar nights, the tallest growth on the islands is about 12cm. This driftwood was carried from Russia by the currents in the Arctic Ocean.

Waking up to Sea Ice

While navigating through Freemannsundet we were fast asleep. That is until the "boom-boom" began.

The first time you wake up surrounded by sea ice is a surreal experience. The ship is shaking as if you were were in an earthquake. Sounds of small bombs and scraping against the ship. Capitan Oliver Kruess referred to this as the "boom-boom"

The National Geographic Endurance is a Polar Class 5 ship. Which means it is suitable for year-round operation in medium first-year ice*.

Wildlife

Here we encountered a rich and diverse series of animals. Walrus, Beluga Whales, Puffins, Arctic Fox, Polar Bears, Humpback Whales, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Arctic Terns, Svalbard Reindeer, Bearded Seals... just to name a few.

Walrus

Puffin

Polar Bear

Polar Bears

This female polar bear was sleeping without a care in the world... That is, until we pulled up within 100 meters of the iceberg she was sleeping on.

Showing off her best downward bear pose, she slowly begins to rouse.

Now slightly curious about us, this large blue ship with 100 snack sized humans peering off the bow. She weighs her options and promptly goes back to sleep.

Dwindling Sea Ice and Trophy Hunting

Life for polar bears is not what you would call easy. These marine mammals navigate the sea ice hunting for seals, their main source of nutrition. As temperatures to rise with the season, sea ice breaks away from land then melts or is carried away. Each year we see an increase in average temperatures and sea ice diminishing faster. This year has been one of the hottest ever recorded in the arctic. With each fraction of a degree warmer the arctic becomes, the shorter the hunting season is for these majestic animals.

I embarked on this adventure knowing full well that temperatures were rising and the likelihood of seeing polar bears once I retire were slim to none. What I didn't know, as an amazing naturalist from British Columbia informs me, is Canada allows for 600 polar bears to be killed for trophy hunting. Between Canada and Russia, roughly 1,000 polar bears are killed by humans each year, the same number of cubs are born. This is not sustainable.

Adapting to a Changing World

We hear it nearly every day, climate change is real and temperatures are increasing. At the current rate, our generation may see a North Pole with no sea ice. These marine mammals have uniquely adapted to hunt seals on the sea ice. As their world changes some are attempting to adapt. One potential evolution is to mate with grizzly bears, yes they are compatible. A small group in Greenland have begun to survive on sparse glacial ice in fjords. Others are finding more sustenance on land. Eating bird eggs, slow moving birds, and even the odd reindeer are a few of their options, though less than ideal for these purpose built animals.

While a small number of these animals are adapting, this will only work for a select few. I implore you to consider how you can help. You will be surprised how small changes make an impact. Do your own research, do not take my word for it.

Research

On a few of these shots you can see numbers painted on the rear of the bears. If you zoom in real close, you can even see a collar on one of the females. This is evidence of interactions with humans. Researches will paint numbers on the bears to keep track of how many they have counted. The collar is a GPS device to track the bears location. Researchers will locate the bear again and retrieve the collar once their work is complete.

Walrus

Wait... that's not a walrus. Nope, the majority of seals that we saw looked like little blubber sausages far off in the distance. This bearded seal, however was relaxing atop a bit of sea ice as we came by on a zodiac.