A Rare Encounter

The afternoon came around and M/S Sjøveien was sailing in to Bjørnfjorden at the southern end of Smeerenburgfjorden. The sun was shining and the iceberg's glistening.

We cruised over to the relatively newly exposed granite island in the middle of the glacier and stepped ashore. Maybe we were the first to ever step ashore on these rocks we thought until two minutes later we noticed a nesting Common Eider ahead on the rocks ... oh well ... the Eider got there first..

As we cruised along the sea state got calmer and calmer until the water was like a mirror and everywhere there were terns and gulls feeding from the surface or perched on icebergs any size.

We were photographing the terns as they were plunging down thru the surface to feed when suddenly we saw something unusual: a Sabine ’ s Gull!

A gull that identifies as a tern, feeds like a tern and flies like a tern. Nobody really knows how many Sabine ’ s gulls who call Svalbard their nesting ground, we felt incredibly lucky to see one of these beautiful birds.

Text: Eva Molin Westerholm

Please note: Depending on the lens used for a photo or video shot an animal may appear to be closer than it is. We always follow strict wildlife guidelines to ensure that we do not cause any disturbance.