Beluga Boats

On a recent visit in Fleur de Lyshamna in Van Keulenfjorden in Spitsbergen we visited the site of what once was a Beluga fishery adventure. These fisheries were ecologically insustainable and luckily it ended before the population of this magnificent High Arctic whale were were depleted. Today you can experience Beluga in the fjords of Spitsbergen. They come swimming in groups along the shores. If you're lucky they twist their head (unique feature for the species) and takes a look at you.

A Roald Amundsen day in Tromsø

Today, we had typical Tromsø winter weather. Snow dumped down in mild temperatures. This makes most people wet and miserable (unless you are a skier, or a long gone legendary polar explorer in bronze).

Landing across the ice at 80° N

Amongst my favorite moments in expedition cruising is when the conditions are such that you don't have to use other landing crafts than you own two feet. This is from Chermsideøya high north in the Svalbard archipelago.

What the future brings the Polar Bears?

An important meeting with the signatory parties of the Polar Bear Agreement is taking place in Tromsø between 17th and 19th March 2009.

In 1973 the countries with a polar bear population (Russia, Denmark/Greenland, Norway, USA and Canada) managed to agree on the protection regime for polar bears. Only traditional hunting would be allowed. In Spitsbergen the polar bears are not hunted at all by indigenous peoples - hence the local population is functioning as a reference.

However, the Norwegian Minister of Environment, Erik Solheim is pointing at excessive tourism as a potential threat towards this population (in addition to sea ice reduction and long-transported pollutants that bio-magnify in the food-web and ends up in high concentrations in top-predators). He is off course right, excessive and irresponsible tourism is a threat - but not the only.

Over the years, I have conducted about 60 sea-born expeditions with tourists to the areas of Svalbard with the highest concentrations of polar bears - the eastern parts of the archipelago. Once, I have flown with helicopter over some of the same areas.

Obvious to me; My one helicopter ride caused more stressed polar bears than all my 60 expeditions combined (by far).

Tourism flights with helicopters are prohibited in Svalbard. Tourism and conservation in Polar Regions are highly compatible and should be used for what it's worth to advocate the polar bear cause.

The pictures below are calm and easy going polar bears, on the east side of Svalbard.

Chinstrap Penguins at Baily Head, Antarctica

This picture is taken very early in the morning. I was guiding a group of hikers across from Baily Head, Deception Island, Antarctica to Whalers Bay. This is a fantastic hike that takes you through one of the largest chinstrap penguin colonies in the Antarctic Peninsula.

BAS Twin Otters

Fascination for polar aviation? These British Antarctic Survey planes are stationed in the Falkland Islands where I took this picture. They stand out even better in an all white Antarctic environment.

Hammerfest

Travelled through Hammerfest a while ago with Hurtigruten. What a city! Quite colorful and thriving on the natural gas taken ashore on the nearby Melkøya, where there is a plant that is, essentially, a giant 10 billion $ fridge that makes it liquid and transfers it to Liquid Natural Gas vessels that takes it to the markets.




A few hours further north, before you arrive the port of Havøysund, you witness another method of luring energy out of nature. The giant windmills dot the spectacular cliff in an intriguing way.

Hunting the Light

Sailed from Tromsø to Bergen this week. Fantastic light - forget the midnight sun and all those things we've seen a million times.

Spitsbergen in October

The tourist season is over in Spitsbergen and the community of Longyearbyen has geared down. The day is getting about 15 minutes shorter in each end, every day and the light is fantastic. At night you can get lucky and have clear skies with aurora borealis like we did on our hike to a cabin outside town...

White Sea - Russia

I was just stuck in a hotel in Moscow. Bad luck, but at the same time it gave me an opportunity to re-live yesterday. I had a memorable day on the Northern Dvina River. Together with my Russian friends; Olga, Vladimir, Jury, Natasha and Anna I had the pleasure exploring the borders of the White Sea. It made me feel like continuing an ancient tradition of keeping up the good relationship between the Pomor People and Northern Norway. Mayor of Patrakeevka; Petr Ivanovich Kopytov (you see him in the only portrait below) had a first class, number one welcome in his village, that's for sure. In excitement I took a few pictures...

Where the hell is Matt?

Last year I met Matt on a trip to Antarctica on one of his travels to shoot dancing. I immediately fell for his concept and offered to be the man behind the camera. I did the footage of the two Antarctic sequences. I challenged Matt to come up to the Arctic and I would film him dancing on a lonley iceflake in the Arctic Ocean (Matt; if you read this...). Perhaps you could dance away global warming... This is one of the most viewed on You Tube. Enjoy!

About South Georgia in Islands Magazine

In the March 2007 issue of National Geographic Islands Magazine there is a story about a trip I attended as an Expedition Leader last year. The writer and photographer is my good friend Jad Davenport and the article is made available here with his permission. Download the PDF here or click on the Islands Magazine front page (to download). I know that many of my readers have been to South Georgia, so this may lead to many a recognizing nod. Enjoy.

In Arctic Air Space

The sun is almost back in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. These pictures are taken from the flight in yesterday and out today. The landscape is extraordinary fascinating in the blue ambient light from the sun below the horizon. The reason I was in Longyearbyen this time was to launch the Norwegian Polar Institute Cruise Handbook for Svalbard (sorry, only in Norwegian, coming in English by the summer), the project I have been working on this winter.