Mighty encounters between man and nature

During the night M/S Quest sailed from the easternmost island of Svalbard towards Nordaustlandet, an island 80% covered by ice. When we woke up, we were sailing along the northern hemisphere’s longest glacier front: Austfonna.

The ice cliffs rise from the sea with a height of up to 700 metres, more than the highest peak on the island. After this exquisite journey, M/S Quest anchors outside Bråsvellbreen, the most southern part of the glacier. We head out with the rubber boats and navigate between blue, shimmering blocks of ice that have been torn free from the calving glacier. Meltwater channels end out in arctic waterfalls that flow down the glacier wall. The sound of the flowing water blends with the sound of thousands of air bubbles that burst in the floating ice blocks. A bearded seal swims by and look curious at us. An ivory gull circulates above. Expect from that, it is just us, the sea, and the ice.

In the afternoon we continue west towards Hinlopenstretet, the water that separates Nordaustlandet and Spitsbergen, the two largest islands in the archipelago of Svalbard. We head out with the Zodiacs and make a landing on Wahlbergøya. A colony of walruses rest on top of each other, the heat from their bodies creates steam that mixes with the thick fog. A few of them are swimming in the water, someone seems to be wondering who we. A spiritual silence rests in our group as the massive male very slowly moves. He glances up at us from the water with his red circled eyes. The water lays still towards the beach, yet another meeting between human and nature that only Svalbard can offer.

Text: Fanny Månsson – Guide onboard M/S Quest July 29th - August 8th, 2022