Isfjord
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2008
1
19
21
Trip End
Jul 21, 2008
Isfjord,
Norway
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I was in the last group to go out (not by choice - they assigned us to groups), but I was in the first zodiac of the group. Woody was the driver. As we approached the beach, you could catch a whiff of walrus. They eat around 50 kg of mussels a day and they smell somewhere between rotting meat and fish. We landed on a sandy and gravel beach. There was a large tidal plane with ponds stretching out to mountains in the distance. Near the beach, quite a lot of driftwood had washed ashore. Like Amsterdamoya, this driftwood consisted of logs from timber cutting in Siberia. There were a few glaciers in the background. The temperature was around 6 degrees C with light winds and scattered clouds.
While we waited for the other zodiacs in our group to land, I took some photos of the scenery while others viewed the birds that were in the ponds. There was a purple sandpiper (I didn't see it), grey phalaropes (didn't see it either), and a red-throated diver (loon), which I saw. The area where we were was very unprotected, since it is both a point and very flat. The government had built a navigation aid nearby along with a hut containing supplies. There was what I think was a couple barrels of fuel, too. We weren't all that close to the hut and navigation aid, but we would be heading in that direction since the walrus were right next to the navigation aid.
Once everyone was assembled on shore, we began walking along the beach so as to not disturb the Arctic terns, which were nesting in the scattered driftwood further up the beach. About halfway to the walrus we formed a single file line and were told to keep silent. We couldn't talk and we couldn't work velcro or zippers. We had to follow the guide's (John) hand motions. When we got close, we turned to the left 45 degrees so we all formed a line abreast. Then we crept up to a hummock along the beach and then up and over. Once we got over the hummock we were very close to the walrus. We took several more steps and then were told to stop. We were probably 30 meters from the walrus!
There were approximately 40 walrus all hauled out. We were level with them and the background provided mountains, a glacier, and a part of the bay that the point formed. Unfortunately, there was a sailboat anchored in the background in between the walrus and the glacier. So, it spoiled the best angle. The walrus were nearly on top of the navigation aid, which was to the left of them.
I took maybe a hundred shots with my 18-200mm, but also spent some time just observing them. The silence was golden, except for the few inconsiderate people who didn't turn off the sound on their cameras or felt the need to unzip backpacks or jackets. We were told to get everyone set up BEFORE we got close to the walrus.
Walrus are funny creatures. They are huge. We were viewing males, which can grow to 3.5 meters long and 1500 kg. Their tusks can get to 1 meter long, but many were much shorter. They were very awkward on land. They threw the front part of their body forward and then dragged their hindquarters along. They make three distinct noises that I picked out. They made a grunting sound, like you might expect from something that looks the way they do. The second sound was a deep gutteral growl. The third sound was a wet blowing sound, much like if you kept your lips together in a semi-rigid state and blew air out of them. It sounded kind of like a fart. Then there was the smell. It was like how I described it above, but much more potent now that we were so close. When we were creeping up on them it almost made me gag.
It was their behavior, though, that made me laugh. They laid about in a group practically (or actually in some cases) on top of each other. They laid on their stomachs, their sides, or sometimes their backs. Every now and then one got the urge to scratch and so he did so with a flipper. If a walrus was not asleep, it might poke its head up and have a look around. It might jostle another walrus next to it. If the disturbed walrus didn't like being jostled it would grunt and growl at the other walrus. They might then get into a tussle where they would bare their tusks at each other while growling and grunting. Eventually they would settle down and lay around again. I also saw where one walrus came up the beach and jabbed his tusks into the back of another. They had a good growl and tusk session and then the one moved on.
We had maybe 30 minutes in front of the walrus and then we slowly came back the way we came. We assembled up on the landing site again and were ferried back to the ship.
Back at the ship, we had lunch and were told the plan for the afternoon. We were to land at Alkhornet in Isfjord and walk around. They were going to set up a perimeter and let the passengers wander around in the "Green Zone". The expedition leader (Woody) also announced that there would be ship tours in the afternoon before the landing.
I did the ship tour, which was pretty in depth. The ship was built for hydrophonic research to map the ocean bottom and take water samples. We saw the bridge and were shown what all the insturments were and could ask questions. There are back ups of back ups for things like radios, GPS systems, and ship throttle and steering controls. There were all sorts of regulations posted on the walls, too. Things from what flags to fly for certain situations to what kind of garbage you can dump where.
Next we went to the "Mud Room", which is this large room with a huge structure in the center. The structure was used for hanging microphones on it for doing hydrophonic research. There were huge pieces of machinery that were used for winching insturments up and down from the depths.
The last stop was the engine room. The ship was powered by two diesel fueled turbine engines. It was super loud down in the engine room and reeked of diesel exhaust. The engine room itself was kept pretty tidy, though.
After the tour it was time to suit up for the last zodiac excursion. The weather was 5 degrees C with medium winds off the water. It was overcast mostly, with the sun breaking through here and there. We landed successfully at Alkhornet on a sand and gravel beach. We had to climb up a steep headland area to the coastal tundra plain. Alkhornet mountain dominated the shore line. It was an absolutely magnificent mountain surrounded by rich coastal plain area. The expedition staff was disperesed around a perimeter and we were free to roam within the area. I immediately set off for the high ground in order to get a good view of the coastal plain. I took many photos along the way. The slope that I was climbing, which lead to a lower ridge of the mountain was covered in projections of rock that were shattered by frost action. It was a surreal environment. From the ridge you could make out the geometric patterns that ice wedges formed on the coastal plain. You could also take in a great view of Isfjord.
I got to talk to John Rodsted (expedition staff) for a while about the scenery and what his plans were for after the trip. John is a really cool guy and is involved in landmine removal in third world countries. Eventually more people scaled the ridge and I began to move along the ridge to another site, taking pictures along the way. When I had had enough of the heights, I made my way down to a large rock outcropping. I was talking with John and happened to see an Arctic fox out of the corner of my eye. It had a brown and grey coat, which is its summer colors. We watched it run around for a while and then it caught a snow bunting and killed it. It scurried behind a rock and then darted out near us. It stopped maybe 10 meters away. I didn't take any pictures when it was close because I didn't want to scare it. It was a really cool experience!
About that time it was time to gather everyone up and head back to the ship. I sorted my pictures back on board the ship and gave John a couple fox pictures for a slide show he was doing that night. Not many people got to see the fox, so I wanted to be able to somehow show people. At 7:00pm Woody did a recap of the voyage and then John did a quick slide show of passenger contributed "best of" photos. A few of mine made the cut.
I quickly packed my stuff and then we had our last dinner - the Captain's Dinner. Woody gave a speech and thanked everyone. The captain (Capt. Beluga) said a few words in broken English. John thanked Woody and then one of the passengers got up and thanked the entire expedition staff.
After dinner there was an impromptu party in the bar/lounge area. I talked with several people and had several beers. I stayed up until 1:00am, which was pretty late for me anymore. It wasn't too hard to stay up since it was light out. The party was still jumping when I went to bed.
