Hornsund, Spitsbergen.
Sunday morning met us with warmer temperatures, but with that break it also gave us a bit of fog. However, that didn’t hinder a planned Zodiac cruise along the glacier face of Samarinbreen, on the south side of Hornsund with
Sørkapp Land to the south. The wind was calm and the bay was even calmer,
giving us a more pleasant look at our surroundings. As we left the ship, we saw that there were many icebergs in the area, so we pointed the Zodiacs toward them and went in to investigate. We were also rewarded with a calving that sounded like thunder in the distance.....Followed by a wave of water. We saw lots of black guillemots with their impressive red beaks and feet, then at the edge of the glacier there were hundreds of kittiwakes which made for a splendid sight -they are there because their food is stirred up by the action at the glacier/water interface. Beautifully clean kittiwakes were also found sitting on the small icebergs we passed (today's photo).
Once back at the ship, the temperatures were so mild that we decided to have a BBQ! What a feast - great job by the crew!
Some 10,000 year old glacial ice managed to make it on board, so many of us had alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks cooled by the pure phenomena!
Later, off to the north, we noticed that the sun was starting to break through, so the Captain pulled the anchor and
we headed toward Storbreen glacier. Incredible views surrounded us as we sailed to within one mile of the glacial face. Once there, the staff all looked at each other and said, “why not?!”, and offered a polar plunge;fifteen crazed passengers signed up and soaked themselves in the 0 degree C water - surprise surprise we didn't! After the Doctor determined that all passengers survived the ordeal, we hauled anchor and headed out of Hornsund and north towards Isfjorden and tomorrow’s adventures!
Today was the warmest sunniest day by far but only where we were - you could see fog and rain around us - just showing how unpredictable the weather can be in these latitudes! Indeed we planned to stop at the Polish research station but as the fog was down we had dinner and watched the video Extreme Ice; it explored the consequences of melting glaciers - poignant and a must watch for anyone interested in the future our planet.