Jessica and Oskar: Cruise to Woodfjorden.

I was given the opportunity again this year to join the course I work with at UNIS on their field work cruise. We sailed with the boat Lance again this year and went up to the North West tip of Svalbard. Along the way we stopped at Ny Ålesund, nothing was open and everyone was still sleeping at 9:00 on a Saturday, so we just had a short little walk around and then sailed further into the fjord where I saw my first iceberg! It wasn't a very large one (not very tall) but it was still a significant chunk of glacier ice and it was awesome! We did a little bit of touristing and sampling in Kongsfjorden and Krossfjorden, then a little bit more touristing and sampling in Magdalenefjorden before making it around the North West tip of Svalbard.

We tried to find ice in Raudfjorden again this year, however it was all pretty soft ice and not very strong enough to have the boat freeze in. So instead we sailed further along the North coast to Woodfjorden and found some amazingly beautiful, perfectly flat fjord ice. This is where we spent the next two days.

We saw about 6 bears in total while we were stuck in the ice but they were all pretty far away, there was a mom with two cubs in the fjord when we arrived but they left the area within the day and were only seen as specks in the binoculars. Only once did we get some close up polar bear action when a male was walking across the fjord and came about 150m from the ship. None of the bears in the area really showed any interest in us.

We had a great blue bird day on our second day of field work on the ice. I spent the day ice fishing with one of the girls doing some field work for her thesis. We didn't catch anything but it was still pretty rewarding to sit on the fjord ice at 79˚ North and fish in the sunshine. Some of the crew members even came out and brought us coffee and cookies. We were a little spoiled!

I organized for us to do a polar plunge, ice bathing, again this year and it was a pretty big hit. There was only one person from our group who didn't join in and we were able to convince the Captain of the ship to join us. It was really cold again, and I have another diploma, but I'm pretty sure this time we were a little further south than last year. The Captain was taking pictures of us jumping in through the ice hole and I have a great shot. I look really excited whereas everyone else is making a face of regret and worry. It was a great time and then we got to have a hot tub after so it was all worth it. You have to earn the hot tub, right?

After our field work was done on the fjord ice we sailed up to Moffin island just past 80˚ North, and we saw so many walrus. This island is known as the Walrus island because it's where they all hang out. The island is perfectly flat and covered in snow and the waters around it are very shallow, and a beautiful colour. There was no wind while we were stopped above 80˚ North just watching the Walrus bath in the water and lounge in the sun, it was a pretty special moment. We couldn't get too close (definitely not as close as Oskar has braved) because the ship was too big and the water is very shallow there, but we could still see lots of them form a distance. I can most certainly confirm that they smell big time!

Then we sailed home with some barely choppy water. Although many of the group were getting sea sick, I was hoping for some rougher waters, if only for a little bit!

The first iceberg I've ever seen, so cool.

Science in action.

I actually sat on top (not just inside, but actually on top of) the crows nest while we were sailing in this fjord so that I could set up some UV sensors. I have no idea why I didn't bring the camera with me, because it was really high up and I had some amazing views.