Bucket List Biggie – On the Sea

Cruising on the G Adventures G Expedition

Our six days aboard the G Adventures G Expedition covered a variety of locations – glaciers ...

Lilliehöökbreen

... fjords ...

Magdalenefjorden

... mountains ...

Ingeborgfjellet

... pack ice ... 

Pack ice

... beaches ...

Walruses hauling out at Poolepynten

... and cliffs ...

Kittiwake colony cliff, Fjortende Julibukta

We also saw a variety of weather conditions – sun ...

Ingeborgfjellet 

... fog ...

Fog over Bamsebu

... more sun ...

Fjotende Julibukta

... drizzle (but no snow) ...

Gnålodden

... and more sun ...

The G Expedition at sea

All was fascinating and beautiful.

Fjortende Julibukta

In my next couple of posts, I will cover the specific places we visited and the animals and birds we saw, sometimes in a fair amount of detail (I mean, Polar Bears!).

More on these guys later

Enjoying the view

Traveling on the ship was pleasant. Although we were in the arctic, it was never too cold as long as we were dressed properly. 

The sea was calm, with very little sway; it increased a bit when we ventured farther from the archipelago, but never to the point where it made me queasy. 

I did wear my wristbands the entire time, but I don't think I needed them.

Our route was interesting.  

Weather makes a big difference in how the trip progresses. That's why G Adventures calls it an "expedition," not a tour. Apparently, every trip is different.

Our stops; Map: G Adventures

As a result, out itinerary followed a rather circuitous path; north, then south past Longyearbyen, and then back north to Longyearbyen.  

As I mentioned, we heard that some other trips have experienced heavy seas, wind and rain. And, some bad weather was expected immediately after our trip. 

I guess we picked the right week. Good for us!

At one point along the way, we picked up a passenger from a private yacht who needed to get back to Longyearbyen because of a medical emergency. I am not sure if it was his emergency or someone else’s, but it didn’t require us to return to Longyearbyen early. It may have influenced our itinerary, but I’ll never know.

The trip was a nice mix of ship cruising, Zodiac exploring, landings and on-ship programs. We were always busy, but never rushed. I was certainly never bored. And, I wasn't too busy to process some of my photos while on board, but I was too busy to keep current with them. That's why it takes me so long to post photos after I return from a trip.

Taking lots of bird photos increases my workload when I travel; this is a Northern Fulmar

Here, I am sharing some information in general about the ocean cruising between stops. That was where we saw a fair number of seabirds and a few sea mammals.

Sea Mammals
It was also as we left the harbor that I learned that we would not be seeing Narwhals. I had hoped we would, but, apparently, that requires a trip to Greenland. That's on my Bucket List, too.

As I mentioned before, we saw no dolphins and the whales we saw were generally very far off, with the exception of a few Minke Whales that would do what Minke Whales do: surface once unexpectedly and then disappear. I missed several of them – either not being on deck when the passed by, being on the wrong side of the boat or missing the photo. One Minke surfaced right below the bow and I got a really good look at it. Unfortunately, by the time I swung that camera over the high side of the boat, the Minke was diving. Here is my one and only Minke photo:

Minke Whale, just a smidge of dorsal fin

I hoped to see one in Iceland, when I went whale watching, but I had no luck there, either. Maybe someday.

I had expected to see leagues of seals hauled out on ice like you see in Alaska, but we didn’t. We did have a great Bearded Seal sighting in St. Jonsfjorden, which I will cover in detail when I get to that blog.

Bearded Seal, St. Johnsfjorden

We saw a few more Bearded Seals in the water and once on a far-off ice floe. We also saw what we think was a Harp Seal swimming by the ship. 

Possibly a Harp Seal, but it could be a Bearded Seal

It wasn’t close enough for good photos and it was moving fast.

A Thick-billed Murre flying above a Harp Seal

Seabirds

As we were leaving the harbor, we had our first sightings. One was a new bird for me: the Black Guillemot. 

See the red feet through the water?

Black Guillemot

In the summer the Black Guillemot is black-and-white with bright red feet  and, in the winter, it has light grey and white barring, a pale grey head, white underparts and pale red feet. 

Year-round, the Black Guillemot retains its white wing patch, black beak and red inside its mouth (I never can get a photo of the inside of its mouth).

Native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts, the Black Guillemot's high arctic populations migrate south in winter. They breed on rocky shores, cliffs and islands in single or smalls groups of pairs and feed mainly by diving towards the sea floor for fish, crustaceans or other ocean-bottom invertebrates.

Northern Fulmar, Fjortende Julibukta

The most common on open water was definitely the Dovekie, or Little Auk. We saw them floating …

Dovekie are also called Little Auks

… and flying …

Dovekies over ice floes

... and in between ...

Dovekie take-off

There were so, so many, I couldn’t count them. At one point, we did a count and hit 800 in ten minutes!

One of the many flocks of Dovekies

Another bird we saw in large numbers were Thick-billed Murres, also called Brünnich's Guillemots. The ones we saw were members of the North Atlantic/Arctic subspecies (there is also a Pacific Coast  subspecies and two Russian subspecies).

Thick-billed Murre

Thick-billed Murres spend all of their lives at sea in polar and sub-polar waters that remain below 46°F, except during the breeding season where they form dense colonies on cliffs. We observed some breeding Thick-billed Murres in Fjortende Julibukta. 

Breeding Thick-billed Murres, Fjortende Julibukta

The colony we saw was reasonably small; they can reach over a million birds in one place. Thick-billed Murres move south in winter just far enough south to be in ice-free water.

Thick-billed Murres (you have to look close to differentiate from Dovekies)

Like the other Auks, Thick-billed Murres forage for food by using their wings to 'swim' underwater. They can reach depths of up to 500 feet for up to four minutes at a time, but most of their dives are shallower for shorter times. Their strong and direct flight is the costliest form of sustained locomotion of any animal –  a result of their short wingspan. As a result, they have a very difficult time making it up into the air from the surface of the water – flapping and flapping for several minutes to get airborne.

A very lengthy take-off

As you can see from most of the pictures, Thick-billed Murres are black and white. But, in strong sunlight, they can appear golden brown. 

Thick-billed Murres

When I took these shots, I thought I had seen a new bird.

Thick-billed Murre

Another common seabird is the Black-legged Kittiwake, but we saw many, many more breeding on cliffs at several of our stops rather than on the open ocean.

Black-legged Kittiwakes

It is estimated that there are about 270,000 breeding pairs in Svalbard. From what we saw, I thought the numbers might be higher.

Black-legged Kittiwake

We saw lots of graceful Arctic Terns, flying ...

Arctic Tern

... and resting ...

Arctic Tern, Lilliehöökbreen

I saw just a few Great Skuas, always flying away. I managed to get only a few photos of the southbound end of a northbound bird.

Great Skua

And, I saw one Herring Gull ...

Herring Gull

Just like my Pelagic Birding trip, there were Northern Fulmars everywhere, some white morph and some pale brown. Northern Fulmars spend a lot of time soaring, often right across the bow ...

Northern Fulmar

... but, they do rest on the surface, as well ...

Resting Northern Fulmars

A big treat was Atlantic Puffins, which were far more rare than the Guillemots and Murres, but oh-so-adorable. I had seen Tufted and Horned Puffins in the North Pacific before, but these little critters were a new bird for me.

Atlantic Puffins

Also known as the Common Puffin, this member of the Auk family is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean. It breeds in Iceland, Norway, Greenland, Newfoundland and the Faroe Islands, and as far south as Maine, the west coast of Ireland and parts of the United Kingdom.

Nesting Puffins

Although the Atlantic Puffin has a large population and a wide range, the species has declined rapidly, at least in parts of its range, resulting in it being rated as vulnerable by the IUCN. 

On land, it has the typical upright stance of an Auk. 

At sea, Puffins swim on the surface and feed mainly on small fish, which they catch by diving under water, using their stubby wings for propulsion.

The vernacular name, "puffin," comes from a dish made from the fatty, salted meat of young birds of the unrelated Manx shearwater, which in the 1600s was known as the "Manks Puffin.” Similarities in the taste of the meat led to the misnomer name of “Puffin.”

Atlantic Puffins resemble clowns

The Puffin’s characteristic bright orange bill plates and other facial characteristics develop in the spring; at the end of the breeding season, they are then shed in a partial molt. After that, their bills are narrower, their eyes rounder and their feathers darker. Winter plumage is seldom seen by humans because when Atlantic Puffins have left their chicks, they head out to sea and do not return to land until the next breeding season. 

Because they do not congregate in flocks when out on the vast open ocean, they are just rare to come upon until they gather to breed.

The Atlantic Puffin has a direct flight, typically slightly higher over the water than most other Auks, but it moves mostly by paddling with its webbed feet. 

Puffin confab

When it takes off, the Atlantic Puffin patters across the surface of the water while vigorously flapping its wings, before launching itself into the air. The size of the wing has adapted to its dual use, both above and below the water, and its surface area is small relative to the bird's weight. 

A fat little Puffin in flight

Landing is awkward; it either crashes into a wave crest, or in calmer water, does a belly flop. 

I think the other two gave it only a 5. Next time, stick the landing!

One thing we did not see a lot of was other boats. We saw a few, but for the most part, we felt that we were all alone in the world. And, with no phone service, TV or Internet, we could have been.

Nobody but us, Lilliehöökbreen

As much fun as it was spotting wildlife from a cruising ship, the Zodiac expeditions were better. 

Zodiac excursion, Fjortende Julibukta

More on that next.

Trip date: June 15-July 4, 2019