Friday, August 11 - Longyearbyen, Svalbard - "Shit Got Stolen in Svalbard"

The following two photos are my favorites from the whole trip:

There is color to be found on one of the greyest places on earth!

We have arrived at the Northernmost continuously occupied city in the world. People from 53 countries live here. It was an overcast day, and right off the bat I spotted another cruise ship arriving with us.

The port was very industrial looking.

Brock is on the bow of our ship surveying the situation.

There is a long network of cables to transport coal.

The RIB boats are lined up & ready to take people out on tour.

This is some sort of military vessel, with a tender buzzing past.

Across the way we can see a glacier feeding into the ocean.

Our first shore excursion, Fossil Hunting, was from 9:00 a.m. - noon with guide Hugo from Grenoble, France. He was an engineer studying climate change, and he was about to be leaving Longyearbyen, his studies complete.

Because of polar bears, you can't leave the city without a rifle. Hugo had his at the ready.

The tour involved hiking on loose rocks and crossing a glacial river in several places.

This is looking back into the city of Longyearbyen.

This is looking up the mountain towards the glacier.

There is some color to be found.

The glacial river snakes into town.

Hugo carried a ladder during the first part of the hike and used it for us to cross the deepest, widest crossing.

Then he set the ladder aside along the bank for use when we returned. He declared, "There's no crime in Longyearbyen!" OK....

Other people we saw during this period of time were 3 hikers and a woman with a dog.

This plant is Arctic Cotton Grass.

Here is a large grouping of it.

We located the remnants of a coal mining operation.

This area was used as a kennel for the sled dogs that would take the workers up here to work.

We hiked to a glacier moraine field of rocks. There we started finding fossils. We're not sure how much Hugo knew about the fossils we were finding.

There we found a pallet of fossils that others found.

We hunted for a few minutes, then enjoyed a hot beverage flavored like huckleberry tea, with biscuits.

As we headed back, we noticed a very large group of Chinese tourists quite a ways up from us trying to cross the river.

When we got to the place where the ladder should be, it was gone! The ladder had been stolen! Crime wave in Svalbard! Hugo had just gotten done telling us how low the crime rate was in Longyearbyen. Whoever stole it went to a great deal of trouble to take the ladder with them. The only thing left to do was to roll up our pant legs and wade across the river. Our hiking boots got soaked!

All of us, except Hugo (who was wearing knee-high rubber boots) got wet feet!

After returning to the ship, we removed our dirty boots and wet socks and washed our feet before proceeding. We set our boots out on the heated bathroom floor to dry. We really enjoyed this tour. It was very memorable.

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Next shore excursion, "Wildlife Safari by Boat", 2-4 p.m. This was our icebreaker boat:

Before too long, the captain announced that a Fin Whale had been sighted! We all went on deck to look.

Brock got some pretty good photos of the Fin Whale.

The small grey building to the left of the brown building is the entrance to the International Seed Bank.

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There were some very interesting boats in the harbor, all heavy duty.

These sailboats were heavy duty, sailed here by some pretty hardcore dudes and dudettes.

This boat is aluminum.

You will never, ever, ever catch me trying to sail to Svalbard!

The ship looks proud at port.

We spotted lots of water fowl.

This boat was headed out to sea. Poor chaps!

These boats were coming in for the day. By the way, the sun would not set on this day.

Tidbits about Svalbard and Longyearbyen:

• The population of Longyearbyen is 2500.

• People from 53 countries live here.

• Svalbard is controlled by Norway.

• Svalbard is warming faster than any place else in the world, 3-4 times faster.

• Mining (brown coal) is the chief industry in Svalbard; it's used to make steel. We think there was only one active coal mine at the time.

• It was a mostly overcast day, no rain, with temperatures in the 40's. It was windier and colder for the boat ride than for the fossil hunt.

• We didn't see any polar bears. There are 4 times as many polar bears as people on the islands.

• Remote and barren, this land is called an "Arctic Desert". It has the Midnight Sun, and the Polar Night which lasts all winter until March 8.

• Polar bears are dangerous, reaching sizes of almost 3000 pounds. Male polar bears don't hibernate, making them a danger year round. They will even kill and eat their own young in order to mate sooner.

• Also indigenous to Svalbard are miniature reindeer, which are much smaller than those on the mainland, and arctic foxes, along with whales, seals, and walruses in the ocean. Also found here are the large and dangerous Greenland Shark (250-500 years old, can be up to 3000 pounds), and the curiously peculiar Narwhal (whale), which is toothed with a large tusk.

• 60% of Svalbard is covered by glaciers.

• The Fin Whale is known as the Greyhound of the Sea. It is endangered, the 2nd largest species of whale on the planet, 90 ft. weighing up to 74 tons. They can surpass the speed of the fastest ocean ship.

• The Polar Bear is the largest living species of bear.

• Svalbard is midway between the Northern coast of Norway and the North Pole.

• Longyearbyen is the largest settlement on Svalbard a/k/a Spitsbergen.

• It is at 78 degrees Lattitude.

• Svalbard is home to the Global Seed Vault.

Gone missing today: Ladder, Brock's brown sock (while doing laundry), and Jane's room key.

We're going to find whoever stole that ladder! I think it must have been the Chinese tourists!