Crossing the Barents Sea to Svalbard

The Barents Sea was the last hurdle before the Arctic - I was certainly worried about the crossing of such a wide expanse of sea which is really part of the Arctic Ocean. Luckily there was no storm - even though the waves were quite high at times, it was a relatively smooth crossing even for someone prone to seasickness like myself. In fact, it was calm enough that when we were half way across and reached the one island in the middle of the sea - Bjornoya (Bear Island), the southernmost island in the Svalbard Archipelago, we were able to stop and cruise around the island, something that many of the expedition staff haven't been able to do during their many previous crossings because of rough seas.

The island is wild! Its geology spectacular! And there was amazing bird life on its cliffs - this remote island in the middle of this vast expanse of sea plays host to puffins, murres, guillemots, kittiwakes, skuas,  auks, eiders, gannets and gulls in the tens of thousands.  The sky around it was full of birds flying back and forth. While I was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of birds and the noise they made around us, it was the rocks that struck me dumb with their astounding cragginess, probably the result of weathering arctic storms. It was for me, one of the most beautiful islands I have seen on this trip.

Spectacular rock formations around the island

Those are not dust spots on my camera - they are birds flying above the island!

Look at the astonishing bird population on these cliffs!  The sedimentary rock layers are almost designed to accommodate the residents, whether migrant or permanent...

Bear Island has only 4 inhabitants, the staff at a meteorological station. It's hard to imagine living here with the birds!  When we were in our zodiac, we discovered a natural arch and with the approval of the group leader, our zodiac ventured forth through the unknown tunnel.  It was quite an adventure and we were surprised to find even birds inside the tunnel!  Please see the video below of our navigation through the tunnel and also to get a sense of the sea conditions - considered calm but still tossing in our zodiac. I was taking photos at shutter speeds of 1/1250 second and higher to get sharp enough photos. We also came across an abandoned Russian trawler that had washed up on the shores of this island -  a piece of junk on an otherwise all natural environment.

Abandoned Russian trawler on island

Puffins

Common murres and guillemots

Looks like a social here

And some mating on the side

A skua feeding on a kittiwake

A Northern Fulmar enjoying the swell

Skua flying off for more food

Looking at the island from this angle reminded me of images of Ayer's Rock in Australia

 An overnight journey from Bear Island would take us to Svalbard in the morning - the top of the world!