Arctic wonders in Hinlopen Strait

Our expedition leader awoke us to a grey but calm day in Hinlopenstretet. MS Quest lay anchored just off Faksevågen, and the expeditioners went to explore the western shore of the bay, which was partly still covered with the last bits of fast ice from the winter.

After lunch, a female polar bear was spotted, wearing a collar – and having a tiny cub in tow, born this last winter. From the far distance, everybody watched silently and awe-struck as the pair walked over the ice in search of food. The queen of the Arctic was clearly visible through binoculars, whilst those with big camera lenses got a good photo of the active female and her playful cub wandering over the fast-ice. 

The afternoon's landing was on Krossøya in Murchissonfjord, just off the northwestern shore of Nordaustlandet. The islands name means «cross island», as one can find there one of only two Pomor orthodox crosses still standing intact on the Svalbard archipelago. During the pleasant hike, some reindeer were seen from a relatively close distance. 

Very mentionable was the serene weather of the afternoon and evening. Dark grey clouds shrouded the sky and tinged the world in 1000 shades of grey, silver and blue. There was absolutely no wind, so the landscape of distant glaciers and snow-covered islands mirrowed itself in the calm waters. Seals were lying on fast ice, birds bobbed on the still water surface: the mood can only be described as "magically Arctic“. What an amazing day this was!