Svalbard (Spitsbergen) – the search for wildlife Day 4 & 5

Text by Michelle Alten

Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/7.1, Shutter Speed: 1/500s

Day 4

Hornsund: Samarinbreen; Gnalodden

On a morning zodiac ride, we visit a giant glacier.  The ice groans like a sleeping old man as a flock of pristine Black-legged kittiwakes hovers near the glacier’s wall.  It was a grey morning with flat light for photography.

Black-legget kittiwake.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/8, Shutter Speed: 1/640s

Black-legget kittiwakes on ice.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/7.1, Shutter Speed: 1/500s

Hundreds of Black-legget kittiwakes are feeding in the runoff of the Samarinbreen. Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/7.1, Shutter Speed: 1/500s

A juvenile Arctic turn sitting on ice.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/7.1, Shutter Speed: 1/500s

Afternoon at  Gnalodden.  The light improved!

The beach at Gnalodden.
Nikon D4, Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8G, Focal Length: 24mm, Aperture: f/10, Shutter Speed: 1/400s

In the afternoon, we hop back in our zodiacs and motor to a stony beach.  Rock cliffs tower above the shore where a lonely polar bear hunter’s cabin, now used by scientists, is the only sign of man.  The barren beauty of the landscape, illuminated with glorious sunshine, reveals the Arctic’s magic.  Kittiwakes, maybe a thousand of them, create a cloud of sound, a constant din that overpowers the shouts of the sea.   I gingerly walk the shore, stepping around moss and saxifrage like a child on A hopscotch game.  It’s a tricky maneuver, but when I think of the extraordinary effort it takes these little tundra plants to grow on the frozen tundra, I can’t bear to squash them beneath my boots.

Purple saxifrage. Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/13, Shutter Speed: 1/160s, tripod

As we approach a bluff we spot about twenty barnacle geese swimming—some with goslings—in a little bay.  A glaucous gull perches on a giant boulder strewn on the shore, protecting its four chicks.  Suddenly it takes off and attacks an unsuspecting guillemot.

Here among the wild creatures, I take in this picturesque piece of the Arctic– I gaze at icebergs floating off shore as the cool Arctic air bathes my lungs.

Day 5

Edgeoya: Kapp Lee; Freemansundet

A male Reindeer is grazing on the tundra.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 360mm, Aperture: f/8, Shutter Speed: 1/250s, tripod

Sailing to the south, we travel along the edge of the sea ice.  Making a landing, our group tracks three healthy-looking reindeer grazing on the tundra.  Nibbling on the tiny plants, they seem to successfully find food where there seems to be none.  Tufts of shaggy white winter fur hang like lichens from their coats.  They are a scruffy-looking bunch.  Without the presence of hunters the reindeer seem to feel secure—they show no fear of our photographers.  Some of the group heads to shore to scout for walruses.  They are rewarded with about eight grizzly faces peering from the bay and eyeing them as they watch from the beech.

Curious walruses in the water eyeing the photographers.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/320s, tripod

Curious walruses in the water.
Nikon D4, Lens: VR 200-400mm f/4G, Focal Length: 400mm, Aperture: f/5.6, Shutter Speed: 1/320s, tripod

In the afternoon we cruise ice floes in search of seal and polar bears.  Cold, still, and grey—the Arctic ice is lonely and endless.   We watch from the bridge, scanning, searching, and deciphering the bumps, crevices, and holes in each piece of ice.  Searching, hoping.  Black and white guillemots, splashing with their bright red feet provide a temporary distraction, but then we return to our polar bear search