Bellsund
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2008
1
18
21
Trip End
Jul 21, 2008
Bellsund,
Norway
Friday, July 18, 2008
Just before gangway time, an announcement came over the PA saying that a bear had been spotted near the landing spot. Sure enough, there it was wandering along shore toward an old (3-4 years!) lump of whale blubber that was on the beach. The plan for landing was scrubbed and we ended up going for a zodiac cruise. The weather was relatively nice; 6 degrees C with 15 knot winds. It was overcast, but the sun was peeking out in some places. We first did a few circuits of the bear and got to watch it feed on the whale carcass. It was nice getting some action shots. The smell of the carcass was terrible - even from 75 meters out in the bay! I shot my 200mm on the first pass and then switched to my 300mm on the second pass. For the final pass, the ship's doctor (Dave), who was in our zodiac, loaned me his 80-400mm VR lens! It was beast of a lens. I was able to get right up on the bear, though, and see some detail of it feeding.
After the bear viewing, we motored to the next bay over and had a look at some old whaling paraphenalia. There were a few huts or remains of huts, netting equipment, old boats, and lots and lots of beluga whale bones. It is estimated that the bones of 500 belugas are present on the beach. One of the huts was still being used and was reinforced with stout timbers to resist bear attacks.
Next, we motored past the bear bay and into the bay on the other side. Here we saw more whaling detris, including 3 well preserved whaling boats from the 1920s or 30s. There were great mountains in the back ground with vertical strata. The sun began peaking through in the background, which gave some magnificant shots. To finish up the trip, we took one last look at the bear (which had strolled off the beach and up on a ridge) and then headed back to the ship.
We had lunch at the normal time and then about an hour until our next excursion. The next excursion was planned to be a landing on the west shore of Recherche Fjord. There were to be 3 different groups formed. One was called the "chargers" and was going to go for a long walk. The second was called the "photographers" and was a medium length walk, which focused on photography. The third group was called the "contemplators" and stayed around the landing site investigating what was there in detail.
We boarded the zodiacs at 2:30pm. The weather was really nice. It was about 6 degrees C with blue skies and sun and a light wind. I was on the first zodiac, which was piloted by Jeff (expedition staff). The site was free of polar bears (finally) and we landed successfully. I brought my hiking boots from the ship and changed from my rubber boots once we were on shore. Our group formed and we were off. John, Pat, and several of the girls came with. We skirted the bottom of a moraine and walked on lush "Arctic heather" tundra. We crossed a meltwater stream and then up a mountain about halfway. The mountain wasn't as steep as the one I climbed in Longyearbyen, but it had the loose scree. Then we walked along the back of the mountain until we got a good view of Renard Glacier. This glacier no longer has a front that is over water. It has receded to about 200 meters from shore. We had a good view of the glacier's front and its long tail around the mountain from our vantage point. We came down to the moraine that we had skirted earlier. Eventually we came down it and crossed some tundra to the beach. We headed back to the landing point along the beach. Along the way we stopped and looked at an old mining hut and mining ore cars. Back at the landing site, we loaded up and headed back to the ship. Altogether, we were gone for 3 hours.
Dinner was at the normal time. Afterward the MSU group headed up to the library to talk about the plan for the last few days. We leave the ship on the 19th, stay a night in Guesthouse 102 in Longyearbyen, fly to Oslo, stay at the airport Raddison, and then fly back home on the 21st. Then the students discussed what was expected of them for their final papers, posters, and exams. Once that bit of accounting was done, we headed up to the bar for the nightly bar talk. This night's topic was "Funny Questions Said by Passengers" done by Woody and John. It was good. Some examples include "What language do they speak at the North Pole?", "When will the Great Auk no longer be extinct?", "What county is the Russian crew from?" Good times.
