This voyage will take you into the pack ice and along the remote shorelines of rugged north Spitsbergen. Places you might visit include the following:
Raudfjord
On the north coast of Spitsbergen, you can enjoy this expansive fjord spilling with glaciers – and maybe even visited by ringed and bearded seals. The cliffs and shoreline also support thriving seabird colonies, rich vegetation, and the possibility of polar bears. Try to land at Alicehamna or Buchananhalvoya.
Monaco Glacier
Depending on the weather and sea ice, you could sail into Liefdefjorden, land at Texas Bar, and cruise within sight of the 5-kilometer-long (3.1 miles) face of Monaco Glacier. The waters in front of this precipitous glacier are a favorite feeding spot for thousands of kittiwakes, and the ice base is a famous polar bear hunting ground. If ice conditions prevent you from sailing here early in the season, you may sail along the west coast of Spitsbergen.
Highlights of Hinlopen
You aim to sail into Hinlopen Strait, home to bearded seals, ringed seals, and polar bears. At the entrance, there is even the possibility to spot blue whales. After cruising among the ice floes of Lomfjord in the Zodiacs, you can view the bird cliffs of Alkefjellet with their thousands of Brunnich’s guillemots. On the east side of Hinlopen Strait, you may attempt a landing on Nordaustlandet. Here, you may see reindeer, pink-footed geese, and walruses. You can take an alternate route if ice prevents entry into Hinlopen.
The Seven Islands
The northernmost point of the voyage may be north of Nordaustlandet at Chermsideoya or Phippsoya, in the Seven Islands. You may reach 80° north, just 870 km (540 miles) from the geographic North Pole. Polar bears inhabit this region, so the ship may park for several hours among the pack ice before wheeling around west again.
Sailing the continental shelf
While retracing your route west, keep watch for polar bears and elusive Greenland (bowhead) whales. About 40 nautical miles west of Spitsbergen, you sail the edge of the continental shelf. Here, fin whales forage during the summer in the upwelling zones (where cold, nutrient-rich water wells run up from below the sea’s surface) along the Spitsbergen banks. At the mouth of Kongsfjorden, you have a good chance of sighting minke whales.
Forlandsundet, St. Johns Fjord, or Alkhornet
Walruses sometimes haul out in Forlandsundet at Sarstangen or Poolepynten. Alternatively, you might sail into St. Johns Fjord or south to the mouth of Isfjorden, landing at Alkhornet. Seabirds nest on these cliffs, Arctic foxes search below for fallen eggs and chicks, and reindeer graze the sparse vegetation.
