Every once in a while, we get to experience a special day where it seems everything comes together, and all our wishes come true. This morning’s first activity was supposed to be a landing at an island named Edgeoya. However, when the scouting party went out for a safety landing, they discovered a large group of walruses hauled out on a tiny, nearby island. It was our first look at one of the most iconic animals of the Arctic, and we had amazing views. We even had a chance encounter with another Arctic species, king eider ducks. After a morning spent watching the marine mammals, we were once again ready to make our landing on Edgeoya after lunch. Edgeoya is a flat island where we hoped for the chance to see more Arctic wildlife. We were not disappointed. Our first sightings were of some very special shore birds, red phalaropes. These birds have the unique distinction of the female being much more colorful than the male. This is because the male does all the incubating of the eggs while the female goes off to find another partner to lay another batch of eggs. The hiking was boggy and difficult at times, but in the end, it all paid off with a wonderfully close encounter with reindeer, another one of Svalbard’s iconic animals. All in all, it was a perfect day, and we can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.
6/15/2025
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National Geographic Resolution
Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard
This morning, National Geographic Resolution explored the northeast coast of Spitsbergen Island. On approach to our landing, the ever-watchful spotters on the Bridge found a mother and cub polar bear on fast ice at a comfortable distance from our landing site. On shore, we divided into casual, moderate, and long walkers and set off into the high arctic tundra to explore the barren beauty of this high latitude. The long walkers made it to a high point with an amazing view of the ship and fjord, while the casual and moderate walkers explored the fjord-indented coastline. After lunch, we hopped into Zodiacs for an amazing cruise along the bird cliffs at Alkefjellet. The highlight was the thousands of Brunich’s guillemots nesting on dolerite ledges and covering every available space. Birds, birds everywhere! It was truly a sight to see and hear. We found an arctic fox cruising along the rocky shoreline and incredibly steep terrain, looking for anything (eggs, chicks) falling from the sky. Most of these bird cliffs have a resident fox den beneath them, as the abundance of birds helps sustain them. It was another incredible day at Latitude 79 North!
