Perfect Tour: Arctic Cruise on board Plancius

Perfect Tour: Arctic Cruise on board Plancius

• 20.09.2012

The Arctic, the land of the midnight sun, of snow and ice, offers some of the finest scenery and wildlife experiences in the world. Visitors to the region can witness enormous colonies of seabirds thronging the cliffs and shores, and enjoy the thrilling antics of whales at sea, and seals and walruses hauled out on rocks and ice-floes. The proximity of the pack-ice offers spectacular cruising between ice-floes. The lucky may even encounter the very symbol of the Arctic - the Polar Bear.
The Arctic has had a major attractive force on navigators and explorers. Promises of fabled lands and fortune lured many 17th century explorers into these unknown frozen lands and seas. Many perished but some returned home with stories of hardship and despair, but also of amazing sea creatures such as "Seahorses" (walruses) and "huge fishes" (whales). The exploitation of animals such as walruses, whales, Arctic Foxes and Polar Bears became a major force behind the exploration of the Arctic in the last three centuries. Though still remote and sparsely populated today, native people have been living in the Arctic for many thousands of years and numerous prehistoric and historic sites is a testimony to the thriving cultures of the past.

Duration: 10 days / 9 nights
Dates: 12.07.2013; 30.07.2013; 08.08.2013
Rates: from 6.450$/person

Day 1
Arrive in Longyearbyen, the administrative capital of the Spitsbergen archipelago of which West Spitsbergen is the largest island. Before embarking there is an opportunity to stroll around this former mining town, whose parish church and Polar Museum are well worth visiting. In the early evening the ship will sail out of Isfjorden.

Day 2
Heading north along the west coast, we arrive by morning in Krossfjorden, where we go on the Zodiacs for a
cruise along the sculpted front of the 14th of July Glacier. On the green slopes near the glacier, a colourful variety of flowers bloom, while large numbers of Kittiwakes and Brünnich’s Guillemots nest on the nearby cliffs. There is also a good chance of spotting Arctic Foxes, who patrol the base of the cliffs in case a chick falls from its nest, and Bearded Seals, who cruise this fjord. In the afternoon we sail to Ny Ålesund, the world’s most northerly settlement. Once a mining village - served by the world’s most northerly railway, which can still be seen - Ny Ålesund is now a research centre. Close to the village is a breeding ground for Barnacle Geese, Pink-footed Geese and Arctic Terns. Visitors interested in the history of Arctic exploration will want to walk to the anchoring mast used by Amundsen and Nobile in the airship Norge in 1926 and Nobile in the airship Italia in 1928 before their flights to the North Pole.

Day 3
Near the mouth of Liefdefjorden, we will go ashore for a walk on the tundra island of Andøya. Many common eiders and pink-footed geese nest here, and the more rare King Eider may also be seen. Sailing into Liefdefjorden, we will cruise near the face of the impressive Monaco Glacier. The waters of the glacier front are a favourite feeding spot for thousands of kittiwakes and occasionally polar bears are seen on the glacier.

Day 4
Today we will reach our northernmost point at Phippsøya, in the Seven Islands north of Nordaustlandet. Here we will be at 81 degrees north, just 540 miles from the geographic North Pole. Polar bears inhabit this region, along with ivory gulls. We may sit for several hours in the pack ice, taking in our spectacular surroundings and seeing a Ross gull, before we turn south again.

Day 5
We will visit Laagøya today, a low island with a big lagoon where a big herd of Walrus tends to congregate. Sabine’s Gulls nest on the island as well. At Sorg Fjord we may find another herd of walruses not far from the graves of 17th century whalers. On a nature walk, we may encounter families of ptarmigans.

Day 6
Today we will sail into Hinlopen Strait, home to Bearded Seals, Ringed Seals, Polar Bears, and Ivory Gulls. We’ll navigate the ice floes of Lomfjordshalvøya in our zodiacs and explore the bird cliffs of Alkefjellet with thousands of Brünnich’s guillemots. On the east side of Hinlopenstrait, we’ll attempt a landing at Augustabukta on Nordaustlandet, home to Reindeer, Pink-footed Geese, breeding Ivory Gulls, and Walruses. Near Torrelneset, we will explore the polar desert of Nordaustlandet, next to the world’s third largest ice cap, which meets the sea nearby. We will walk along beautiful coastline covered in smooth rocks, sculpted by the surf over thousands of years. We may encounter walruses along the way.

Day 7
In Freemansundet we plan to land at Sundneset on the island of Barentsøya to visit an old trapper\'s hut and then take a brisk walk across the tundra in search of Spitsbergen Reindeer and Barnacle Geese. Later we cruise south to Diskobukta on the west side of Edgeøya. After a Zodiac cruise through the shallow bay, we land on a beach littered with whale bones and tree trunks, which have drifted here from Siberia. We can also climb to the rim of a narrow gully which is inhabited by thousands of Kitttiwakes, together with Black Guillemots and piratical Glaucous Gulls. During the breeding season, the base of the cliffs is patrolled by Arctic Foxes and Polar Bears, especially females with young cubs, searching for young birds that have fallen from the nesting ledges.

Day 8
We start the day quietly cruising the side fjords of the spectacular Hornsund area of southern Spitsbergen, enjoying the scenery of towering mountain peaks. Hornsundtind rises to 1,431m while Bautaen shows why early Dutch explorers gave the name ‘Spitsbergen’ - pointed mountains - to the island. There are also 14 magnificent glaciers in the area and very good chances of encounters with seals and Polar Bears.

Day 9
Today we land on Ahlstrandhalvøya at the mouth of Van Keulenfjorden. Here piles of Beluga skeletons (the Beluga is a small white whale), the remains of 19th century slaughter, are yet another reminder of the consequences of thoughtless exploitation. Fortunately, Belugas were not hunted to the edge of extinction and may still be seen locally. Indeed, there is a good chance that we will come across a pod. Cruising into Recherchefjorden during the afternoon we can explore an area of tundra at the head of the fjord where many Reindeer feed.

Day 10
Return to Longyearbyen and disembark for the transfer to the airport and the flight to Oslo and home.
The chances that we can complete a full Spitsbergen Circumnavigation (based on our experiences from 1992 until 2010) are about, 30 % in the first half of July, 60 % in the second half of July, 90% in the first half of August, 95% in the second half of August. In case we cannot complete a full circumnavigation we will mostly resort to a program in Northeast or Southeast Spitsbergen.