Animals of the Arctic

The expedition I was on is called "Land of the Ice Bears: An In-Depth Exploration of Arctic Svalbard," and the primary goal was to see polar bears. Despite that, this harsh and unforgiving landscape plays host to a remarkable variety of biodiversity - from lichen and mosses on land, to the largest living animals on the planet, whales. We had great luck in our animal sightings, thanks to some amazing spotters and wonderful naturalists.

One of the most exciting encounters happened on the first day, while we were hiking at Stefan's Garden in Krossfjord. Just a few meters offshore, a pod of around 100 beluga whales swam by, so close that we could easily see the distinctive smiles on their faces. It was amazing how close they came to shore!

Belugas are all white, and have no dorsal fin. In fact, most exclusively arctic whales lack a dorsal fin, probably so that it can more easily swim under sea ice.
While we were watching the belugas, an arctic fox had creeped up close behind us.

For a while it was almost too much of a good thing: which way to look?! Belugas or fox? Belugas or fox?! TOO MUCH!

The arctic fox changes color based on the season - white in the winter and brown in the summer. The foxes we saw were all in the process of shedding their winter coats, so they looked a bit scraggly.



Also at Stefan's Garden was a herd of reindeer. These animals have a rough time here in the high arctic - they forage for whatever flora they can find. In the winter, their strategy is to minimize energy loss by not moving - they travel less than 500 yards during the course of the winter - essentially, they stand still for 4 months.

Bearded seal

Along with several ringed seals and bearded seals, we saw a few colonies of walruses. We stopped near Moffen Island to observe around 80 individuals who had hauled out to rest. They were packed tightly together, lolling about and rolling over each other. A few were in the water, and it was fun watching one huge, fat walrus roll himself into the water rather than trying to waddle in.

Later in the week, we stopped at Kapp Lee on the northwestern tip of Edgeøya, where another colony of walruses had hauled out. This beach also has a haunting bone yard, where in the past hundreds of walruses had been slaughtered. Their bones still litter the beach, with piles of skulls - sans tusks - arranged in rings.
 


There is a huge number of sea birds in the arctic, and they are most impressive in their nesting colonies. We saw two: first at the cliffs at Alkefjellet, where thousands of Brünnich’s guillemots and kittiwakes make their nests.

Brünnich's guillemots

We also stopped at Diskobukta (Ducks Cove) on Edgeøya Island, where in a narrow gorge, thousands of kittiwakes nest. Their numbers are so abundant that several arctic foxes have made their dens here, and gorge themselves on eggs or on birds who have fallen during fights. The skies were swarming with birds, and the cacophony of sound was glorious:

Arctic foxes change from white (winter) to brown (summer)

Not so hungry anymore!

On our last day at sea, we were lucky enough to have great weather - which meant it was easy to spot whales. We saw tons of spouts and even saw a breaching humpback, and this guy who decided to come check out the ship:

Friendly humpback

Fin whales

Not only did we see humpbacks, but we also saw fin whales - the second largest animal on earth (next to the blue whale).

The fin whales came fairly close, but as naturalist Rich told us, they are boring to photograph as they don't tend to come very far out of the water. But we did get to see how huge they were!