Svalbard

[wellinghall]

Seen around Svalbard:
- one arctic fox (in Longyearbyen town)
- three polar bears (a mother and two nearly-grown cubs)
- several more reindeer (one close enough to see the velvet on its antlers)
- two ptarmigan (which the guides pronounce as p-tarmigan)
- lots of puffins
- two huge glaciers, and several smaller ones
- large waves heading in our direction as the glaciers shed great chunks
- lots of drift ice (which prevented us from getting to the walrus island; so, no walruses)
- king eider ducklings (does that make them prince and princess eiders?)
- bearded seal
- a Russian mining settlement, and an international research settlement (including someone doing research into barnacle geese, and someone else doing research into arctic foxes; this leads to Friction)
- a bright orange cultural artefact
- a book by Rayner Unwin on Barents' third voyage, when he over-wintered on Novaya Zemlya.

Now back on dry land. We're about to go for a walk around town; then fly back to Tromso, and board the Hurtigruten coastal steamer.

Comments

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

*bleeds with envy*

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I can take you off the filter if you want ... ? ;-)

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, I am jealous!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I can take you off the filter if you want ... ? ;-)

[segh.livejournal.com]

My grandfather used to say p-tarmigan. I always thought he was just trying to be funny.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Was he Norwegian / Scandanavian?

[segh.livejournal.com]

No, pure Bermondsey.

[camillofan.livejournal.com]

My favorite: "a bright orange cultural artifact"

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

It was actually just a shed ;-) (Anything on Svalbard from before 1946 is automatically a cultural artefact, and you aren't allowed to do anything with it - even if it is something that would now be regarded as rubbish).

[bouncy-elf.livejournal.com]

Did I not say that you would see a mother polar bear and two cubs! And an artic fox! You lucky, lucky thing!!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

You did! And I'm glad you did! :-)

All of the guides on Svalbard were bouncy enough to remind us of you! Many of them are biology students, so when you have finished your degree, you can head to to Svalbard and do a Masters at the university on Longyearbyen, and then be a guide in the summer! (One was studying arctic foxes, and one was studying arctic terns, I remember).