The Arctic - Day 6 (6/14/12)

Hello once again from the high arctic! 

Overnight we picked up our northward route again - back to the 80* North point. In fact, we got to nearly 81* this morning at Sjuoyane (the 7 Islands) and explored the edge of the ice pack from our zodiacs. From here to the north pole is 580 nautical miles and sea ice blocks all routes for now. This area is one of the most difficult areas of Svalbard to reach given the ice conditions and limited charting. At the moment we were st the Seven zidlands two things are likely true: there are no people further north than we are here & ice/snow covers the surface from here to the north pole.

The front end of the zodiac at the edge of the ice pack....

What's hard to believe is that this is all new (this winter's) snow that has been shaped by the wind, currents, and shifting ice under the surface. Some of the sea ice below the surface looks like it might be one story deep, but it's hard to really know without measuring.

There are no glacial icebergs here - it is sea ice only. This is the environment that seals and polar bears need & it is sorely lacking for this time of the year.

Our ship in the open water between the mountains and the ice pack.

See what happens when the cold finally gets to you! People start putting on bathing suits and posing for photos....

We had the opportunity to see the color effect that sometimes occurs at the poles after midnight (anybody remember the term?). This blue color in a glacial valley occurred well after midnight, and slowly stretched over a couple of glaciers.

As I write it is 1:30am and we are just leaving the "red fjord" where we searched again for polar bears. There were two, but once again at too great a distance for the naked eye. While disappointing from the point of view of tourists, I have to say that the absence of closeup viewing both speaks to the scale of this place as well as to the solitary life of a polar bear. I'm sorry to report there was more trash than ice passing the boat in this fjord - I saw 2 large fishing nets, lots of plastic, rubber gloves, and a guide thinks she saw a toilet!

Tomorrow we are off to an old mining camp and a very large glacier if we can get there. More soon. Thanks for stopping by!