Alkefejjet and Forelineset

It’s Friday 17th June and we’re parked some way off the island and its bird infested cliffs. Also, there’s quite a breeze as we head off in the Zodiac. Five Zodiacs and the kayaks – an impressive sight approaching the cliffs. 

This is guillemot city, noisy, dirty, and smelly but it's their home. Our boatman told us there were around 60,000 breeding pairs – didn’t count but I thought there could be more. Large gulls circle the cliff and pick off eggs or chicks and even adult birds. The guillemot is an adorable critter – attached to its squat body is an undersized set of wings and two enormous, webbed feet. In flight it looks as if it might stall and crash at any moment, bobbing on the sea it is perfection with a beautifully shaped head and body splashed black and white.

There were loads on the water and perching on cliff face ledges. A couple were having a row which started on a ledge, they tumbled into the sea and continued to squabble as we drifted past them. 

Such a rich supply of fresh meat attracted predators and along the ice line we spotted two arctic foxes both halfway between winter white and summer brown coats.

The afternoon took us to Forelineset. The advance party of expedition team went ashore to check out the terrain. This was polar bear country! Nothing untoward we were able to get in the Zodiacs and head for the shore and a wet landing. I should point out that on each Zodiac trip we were well and truly wrapped up in wellies and waterproofs.

The expedition team had considerately cut wide steps in the ice so we could clamber off the shore onto what looked like Brighton beach on a cool summer’s day – shingle – nothing but shingle. Foregathered we listened intently to the gun totting member of the expedition team saying that we had to be very quiet because there was a group of walruses resting on some rocks a few hundred yards away. We were groups of ten. My group, the (fool) hardy ones, had gone for the walruses followed by a long hike on the shoreline. We had to approach the animals in single file – like infantry advancing on the enemy – with an expedition team member at each end – one with a rifle, the other with a flare gun. If a bear approached the flare should scare him off, if not the bullet would stop it in its tracks. That was the theory – we saw no bears but a family of walruses, flapping about, stretching and scratching on the rocks. 

The walk wasn’t as arduous as I’d imagined. Over thinking I had images of me collapsing from exhaustion or breaking a leg, being carried back to the Zodiac and hospitalised before being airlifted to Longyearbyen hospital for urgent surgery. The walk lasted about an hour, and just over eight thousand steps. Then it was back to the ship, a lie down and shower, cocktails and canapes followed by a chilly barbeque outside on deck 8. I provided some of the music having drawn up a list of twenty 70’s disco tunes. I reckoned most of the other passengers were my age so knew the music. I was spot on –the moment “Dancing Queen” hit the chilly air arthritic limbs flexed and bent backs straightened as we danced the night away.

Tomorrow it is a journey into pack ice and only two more days before we disembark at Longyearbyen to begin our various onward journeys.