Hornsund
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2008
1
15
21
Trip End
Jul 21, 2008
Hornsund Fjord,
Norway
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
We launched the zodiacs at approximately 9:15am. I was on the first zodiac along with John and Pat. Our driver was Woody. We were in the east branch of the Burgerbutka bay of Hornsund. There were 3 glaciers with fronts right on the bay. There were large ice chunks and bergs all over and the water was calm. There were several that were extremely impressive. We first motored up to a bearded seal that was sunning itself on an ice chunk. We cut the engine about 30 meters out and drifted by. The seal laid there and would occassionally look around, including at us. At one point, a chunk of ice bobbed to the surface and scared it. It almost jumped in the water, but calmed down and continued to give us a great show.
When we had seen enough of the seal we cruised to the other side of the bay and worked our way along the shore. There was the smallest glacier on the southeastern part of the bay that we motored by first. It had a small calving front in a crescent shape. Along the way we spotted a bunch of kittiwakes resting on ice and the shore. We came to the next glacier and it was larger. It had a front that was at least 3 times the size of the first glacier. It began to calf and I got pictures of most of the sequence. It made a huge and massive sound when it calved. It created a sizable wave in the water, too. We saw a seal in the same area. At first it was sunning itself on a chunk of ice, but it was soon spooked and dived in the water. It kept swimming around and poking its head out of the water. We trailed it for a ways; not to follow it, but because it was going in the direction that we were.
We then made our way over to the biggest glacier in the bay. It was called Muhlbacherbreen and was probably 10 times the size of the previous glacier. It kept dropping little chunks of ice, but no major calving events. The weather began to clear and the sun was coming out. I got some good shots of the scenery with the sun shining on it. I really wish I would have brought a polarizer along. We cruised along the glacier front and eventually hooked back around to head toward the ship. Along the way we motored past the kayakers so the staff videographer, who was on our zodiac, could get some footage of them. It was a good cruise. I took 490 photos! We were out for 2.5 hours and I didn't get cold. The temperature was 3 degrees C and there was no wind, which made a big difference.
At lunch it was announced that a bear had been spotted in the area by another ship. So, the plan changed to searching for the bear rather than do another zodiac cruise in another part of Hornsund. I spent a lot of time on the port fly bridge with my binoculars looking at the scenery and looking for bear. The sun was out and it was relatively warm. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous. A lot of people were scanning for bear since the announcement at lunch. The lady I was standing next to suddenly started asking people if they could help identify something swimming in the water. I didn't pay it much mind at first, but then two ladies spotted it and neither could identify it. I started looking and eventually found it. It didn't look like a seal and when it turned its head in my direction it looked like a bear face. We flagged down a crew member and had them help identify it. It turned out to be a bear!
They kept telling us that polar bears are yellowish color, but this bear was sort of brownish color. It was swimming away through the water, dodging bergy bits. The ship immediately began to maneauver in order to get a better view of the bear. People started to come to the port side fly bridge. The bear actually swam past the ship. I ran down into my cabin and grabbed my 70-300mm lens and then back out onto the bow. By the time I got there space was at a premium as everyone wanted to photograph the bear. It was rapidly pulling away from the ship. I got some pictures, but we were rather far away. The ship continued to follow the bear while most people on the bow gave up (I suspect someone on the bridge had a pair of eyes on it at all times). We got in pretty close to the shore and waited. The bear eventually emerged from the water and up on to the shore. It meandered around for a while over snow (which made it stand out pretty well), and then it climbed a hill and out of view. The weather remained outstanding and I went back to the bar to have a beer and celebrate.
After the beer I read a bit and fell asleep. I was woken up by the dinner announcement. Tonight's dinner was special: it was an Arctic BBQ. The crew had grilled up steak, chicken, burgers, sausages, and ribs on the stern of the ship. The passengers were invited to come out on the stern and have a good time. There was music, mulled wine, beer, and of course the BBQ. It was an absolute gorgeous day. The sky was crystal blue, bright and sunny. The water was as still as a mill pond. It was picturesque; postcard-like. It was a lot of fun to sit out in the sun and eat and chat. It reminded me of skiing in Tahoe or on a warm day in Colorado. To add to the merriment, the crew provided silly hats for everyone to wear.
Desert was melon with coconut and amaretto served in the bar. Then the crew member who runs the kayaking program gave a half an hour presentation on his latest trip, which was to Tibet to run a large river there. It was interesting and made me really jealous, yet insprired. Anyway, it was such a gorgeous day out - wow. The midnight sun was as bright as I've seen it - even more so than Tromso. Everyone was in a good mood and talking.
