Isbukta
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2008
1
16
21
Trip End
Jul 21, 2008
Isbukta,
Norway
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Gangway was at 9:00am and I was suited up and waiting by 8:30am. The weather was heavily overcast and damp. There was no precipitation or much wind. I was on the first zodiac and was on the port side, farthest astern. Woody was our driver. The ship was anchored a long ways off shore because, despite the fact that Isbrukta was 4 miles wide, it was also shallow. So, it was a long zodiac ride to the shoreline. We started off at the southern end of the bay and the plan was to work our way clockwise around the bay to the north. When we first came to the shore there was a large cliff face, but was not used for nesting by birds. We worked our way over barren and austere landscape until we came to the great Vasilievbreen (Vasiliev Glacier). The glacier was the largest we'd see yet and formed the back and sides of most of the bay.
The water was almost totally clear of both fast ice (ice that builds up along the banks and inner parts of a bay) and icebergs (formed by glaciers calving). There had been a storm, which blew in a southernly direction that had cleared most of the floating ice from the bay. Along the glacier there were a couple bergy-bits (floating ice chunks that were shorter than 2 meters). The part of the glacier we were looking at had a lot of gravel and dirt streaks in the blue ice on the front.
Suddenly we get a call on Woody's radio that a bear had been spotted along the shore where we had been. So, we turned around to take a look. We saw one on the shore coming down to the tidal area. Then we saw another and yet another. The bears were a mother and 2 almost grown cubs. There was a hummock right along shore, which made a little pond between it and the shore proper. The bears eventually settled down on the far shore of the little pond. Meanwhile, a fourth bear was spotted swimming amongst the broken up fast ice in a little sheltered area not far from the 3 bears. It managed to get itself up on an ice floe and gave us quite a show yawning, stretching, shaking, and looking at us. Soon it laid down on the ice floe and would only move its head. We surmised that it was hunting for seals.
Sure enough, behind the now congregated zodiacs seals began to appear. We saw a ringed seal and several bearded seals. At first they were scared of the zodiacs, but gradually they got used to us and began to pop up all around and look at us. I got several nice shots of the bearded seals.
The polar bears continued to stay put and the zodiacs formed a line and did 4 or 5 loops in order to give everyone a chance to see the 3 bears on shore and the one bear on the ice. We also got good views of the seals. The seals were swimming in the direction of the hunting bear and everyone was hoping we'd get to see a kill. Alas, nothing happened, though. After a while, the fog started to roll in and cut our visibility. We had been out for more than the original alotted time. I had to pee really badly (Pat had already relieved himself off the transom). We made the long journey back to the ship with GPS guidance because the fog was so thick. My feet and hands were very cold by then.
I had a decent lunch of curried beef, which is odd because the Hindus regard cows as sacred. I talked with Zack, the kayak program leader. He leads this great life where he flits back and forth between New Zealand, California, Quark Expeditions, and his own expeditions. It sounds pretty crazy, but fun at the same time.
We had another long zodiac outing at 3:00pm. This one was to Hambergbukta (Hamburg Bay). This bay wasn't as large as Isbukta, but because of the depth it was another long zodiac ride into the bay. Again, the bay was largely free of ice. There was only a few bergy-bits near the glacier at the back of the bay. We started in the north and worked our way to the large glacier of Hambergbreen. The weather was overcast and misty. The tops of the mountains on the shore were covered in clouds. There was no fantastic wildlife this time around. We did see a seal at the base of the glacier. A meltwater stream emptied at the base of the glacier toward the center. It formed a low cave in the face of the glacier. The meltwater was disturbing the bottom of the bay, which was stirring up nutrients off the bottom. There were a lot of kittiwakes and other birds feeding off the small organisms that were now near the surface.
We began to work our way back toward the ship. We circled around a few bergy-bits along the way. The sun was starting to peek through and the ice was superbly backlit. A lot of the ice had a scalloped surface, much like what is found in a cave. Back toward the shore we saw several waterfalls consisting of meltwater that emptied into the bay. Then it was a long cold ride back to the ship. The fog was closing in again and so we had to use GPS to find the ship.
I got really cold again on the way back - especially my toes and fingers. I think that I would benefit from having some insoles in my rubber boots. I can feel the cold come through the bottom of my boots. I need to bring glove liners for my gloves, too.
Back on board I went up to the bridge to have a look around. The bridge is open to passengers (except when in port) and seeing how it works is kind of neat. There are all sorts of insturments, guages, and machines. The navigation/chart room immediately behind the bridge is open and you can look around it as well. There is usually at least two crew members up there. There is always a helmsman and either the captain or first officer. The bridge overlooks the bow from a few stories and gives a nice view all around (and it is warm!). Looking out over the sea as the ship moves through it is mesmerizing. I can see why a lot of staff are up there (well, they are also looking for polar bears). Soon after I arrived on the bridge one of the crew members spotted a Minke whale of the starboard bow. An announcement was made, but the ship was overtaking it so most people didn't see it. I watched a bunch of people scurry out on the bow and completely miss the whale. I thought it was ammusing.
Dinner was called and I headed down for a bite. The dinner announcements said that the wake up would be at 5:30am and a gangway time of 6:00am! That's quite early. The plan was to hit the northern part of Edgeoya and see some walrus and then head south to see some bird roosting grounds. The post-dinner bar talk was given by Mette. She talked about how she was involved in getting aid (money, weapons, medical, and food supplies) to Afghanistan when the Russians invaded. She then went on into how she felt bad about gun running and then helped set up schools and hospitals. This went on for 7 years and by that time she was frazzled and had to give it up. Crazy!!
