Amendment: Maybe it is more difficult than I had thought? A hint: the key is in the photo and not in the caption.
The second Easter brainteaser on spitsbergen-svalbard.com. Yes! The photo below was taken long time ago by an unknown photographer and used in a newspaper article, that does not exist anymore, other than this photo. Name and date of the publication are also unknown. But that does not matter!
The caption indicates that this photo was published at a time when sovereignty and land tenure were still uncertain, but the coal occurrences were well known. This sets the time frame into the early 20th century, about 100 years back. This is also what the article must have been about: coal and sovereignty. The caption is as follows (translation of the German original text)
“Picture of the harbour of Spitsbergen, which the Russians want to possess as a coal mine.
The Spitsbergen archipelago, stretching from 76° to 80° northern latitude, is very rich in coal. The desire of the Russians to establish a coal mine there is strongly opposed especially by the Scandinavian countries.”
The question is: where exactly was the photo taken?
The prices will be drawn amongst all senders of correct answers. The winner will have one free choice from the books (or calendar or postcards) here on spitsbergen-svalbard.com – see right side or click here to see the choice. Senders of right answers no. 2 and 3 will have one free choice each amongst the postcards or the calendar. Click here for contact details to send your answer.
Closing date is Sunday, 03 April 2016, 2400 hours.
Good luck and have fun – happy Easter!
Where is this?
Small print: colleagues such as expedition leaders, guides and crew members are excluded from the drawing for prices. You can, of course, send your answers, but the prices will go to people who are not (semi)professionally involved with traveling Spitsbergen.
The answer has to be correct and concrete. Everything that is not wrong is correct, unless it is wrong. I (Rolf Stange) decide if it is correct and concrete (someone has to do it). It is not enough to write that it is in Spitsbergen. This would be correct, but not concrete.
The famous railway locomotive from Ny Ålesund is one of Spitsbergen’s most frequently photographed attractions. No surprise, as the this interesting bit of local history is picturesquely placed with mountains and glaciers in the background and next to a road where thousands of cruise ship tourists are walking each summer.
Time and weather have, however, been nagging constantly, threatening to destroy this famous bit of machinery forever. To prevent this, it is now in Norway for restoration. In January, it went from Ny Ålesund to Tromsø on a ship and then from there on the road through Sweden to Sørumsand near Oslo. There, it will be taken care of by railway enthusiasts who have built up experience and reputation with other historical railway projects. It is estimated that the Ny Ålesund locomotive will need 300 work hours and 500.000 NOK (near 40.000 Euro) to get back to shape. After restoration is completed, it will be be transferred back home to Ny Ålesund. It is uncertain when this can be expected. Maybe tourists will see the famous coal train in Ny Ålesund without the locomotive this summer.
The locomotive is 107 years old and 8 tons heavy. It came to Ny Ålesund in 1917 and was used for coal transportation from the mine to the harbour into the 1950s. It was restored once on location in 1982. Planning for the current restoration project started 3 years ago.
The famous locomotive in Ny Ålesund, as it has been from the 1950s to 2015. It is currently in Norway for restoration.
The winter is taking a break this year in the Arctic. It is well known by now that the global average temperature in February was well above the long-term (1950-1980) average, as much as 1.35 degrees according to NASA scientists. The temperature increase was especially pronounced in northern high latitudes: north America, Siberia, northern Scandinavia. In these regions, the mercury climbed 5-10 degrees higher than it does in average.
Recent data from Spitsbergen confirm very strong warming also from this area: in February 2016, the temperature was no less than 14.5 degrees above the long-term average, a drastic value! Still, February 2016 is not the race leader. February 2014 has got this doubtful honour, with a dramatic 14.5 degree temperature rise above average.
In Svalbard, the recent mild weather threatens to influence the ongoing winter season strongly: the fjords do not want to freeze, which is causing difficulties for arctic wildlife. For example, Ringed seals, who are giving birth on fjord ice in April and May. Without fjord ice, pregnant females are not able to deliver, meaning that this year’s reproductive season may fail for significant parts of the population. This will again influence polar bears, who are usually having a good and important time hunting on frozen fjords in spring. This is an important feeding season for many polar bears, including mother bears with youngsters born a few months before. Especially these families are strongly dependent on good hunting conditions in spring, after a fasting period of several months around birth for the mother.
Also local and other tourists are not happy about the mild weather. Last weekend, an incursion of warm air again brought temperatures above zero, making the snow thaw and melt in inland valleys that are part of popular snow mobile excursions. Locals have warned to take the popular trip to Barentsburg these days, as there was very little snow left in Colesdalen and Grøndalen. The melted snow is now turned into slippery ice, as temperatures are falling below -10°C again.
At least, the forecast promises temperatures to remain low for the near future, but it is not expected that fjords (Tempelfjord, Billefjord) still get a wide, strong fjord ice cover this season.
Open water in Tempelfjord at Fredheim. The last time this area was frozen solid was in spring 2013.
Source: NRK, local observations and communication.
Longyearbyen is currently having tough times, especially if you happen to live in the wrong house: after the catastrophic destruction of 11 houses and the loss of two lives during an avalanche before Christmas, the old hospital had to be evacuated very quickly last week. The old hospital (gamle sykehuset) is near the Spitsbergen-Hotel (formerly Hotel Funken) upvalley from the centre. It was built in 1954 and converted to a living house with 16 flats in 1997.
More recently, the building had shown signs of movement such as minor cracks in walls and shifting angles – nothing that caused any greater concern, but it caught enough attention to ask for the report of a civil engineer. The result came Thursday last week and it hit the inhabitants like a hammer: at 4 p.m. people were told that they had to leave their homes until 10 p.m. the same day. Anything they were unable to remove from their homes would be out of reach for some time, as it was not allowed to enter the building at all from then on, initially.
Currently, the inhabitants get permission to enter their homes under restrictions to retrieve their belongings as much as possible. Some have already offered their belongings for sale or even for free to anyone who is able to pick it up.
The building is in danger of collaps, but when this may or may not happen is not known. It may collapse today or stand for another year or more. But it is not expected that people will be able to move back.
For the inhabitants, who are mostly the owners of their homes, this came as a total shock and, in some cases, it is likely to be a complete economical disaster.
The local administration (lokalstyre) has offered temporary accommodation to those concerned, but only for a couple of weeks. Not a lot of time for every for everybody to find new homes.
The old hospital (gamle sykehuset) lies within a calmer dwelling area a bit away from downtown Longyearbyen. Currently, it is not quite as calm there: the inhabitants were evacuated on very short notice last week.
While North Korea is provoking the world by testing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, the regime has signed the Svalbard Treaty on January 25 without much public attention. This treaty, which was signed in 1920 in Versailles and came into force in 1925, gave Norway sovereignty over the Spitsbergen archipelago (the original treaty document does not have the name Svalbard) while maintaining rights of signatory governments and their citizens to be economically and scientifically active without the need for a general permission. One of the consequences is that Spitsbergen is, in contrast to mainland Norway, not part of the Schengen Treaty area.
Svalbard is not unknown in the far east: especially in Thailand, people are quite aware of this unique job opportunity that does not require residence or work permits. The third-largest population group in Longyearbyen are Thai people, which have been forming an important part of the social and economic structure of the town for many years by now.
It is not known if the North Korean regime plans their admission to the treaty to be followed by any practical steps or any kind of presence. North Korea is also member state of the Antarctic Treaty (without voting rights). As far as known, the only North Korean activity in Antarctica was the participation of some scientists in a Soviet expedition in 1989/90.
What is Kim Jong Un doing in Svalbard? Creepy duo in Pyramiden (photo composition).
While I am talking about good old Antigua: right now, she is in the shipyard. Cut into two parts. No iceberg and now underwater rock are the reason for this, but the owner’s plan to make her a bit longer. Half of the cabins will be a bit larger from 2016. But there won’t be more cabins and no more beds than so far, so not more people than we are used to, and that is important. And they say that a longer hull is making for better sailing abilities. I am looking forward to a renewed Antigua in 2016!
Meanwhile, the polar night has come over Svalbard. What should have been a peaceful and silent arctic winter brought disaster to Longyearbyen just before Christmas, when a snow avalanche went into a housing area, strongly damaging 11 buildings and killing two people. So the year 2015, which has brought war and terror to many countries, comes to a sad end also in Spitsbergen. Let’s hope that 2016 will bring as many great adventures as 2015, but less sad ones.
During the season of the short days, I am sorting the trips of the past, getting triplogs, videos and photo galleries ready, which I recommend to everybody who wants to leave their home or office mentally for a moment to take a virtual trip up north. New trips are being planned, with Antigua, with Arctica II, with Ópal (in 2017), with Aurora. To Spitsbergen, Greenland and Jan Mayen. A new focus on hiking, in early September. This all takes time for a lot of thinking and planning. 2015 has seen 166 news and blog entries on this website. Also new book projects are getting on. Several ones are in the making, some in a stag quite advanced. So I can promise new books, but I am not going to say anything about timing. I am not planning an airport, I am just writing books. Nobody is paying me for that. So I don’t have to promise anything and I don’t have to excuse anything in case it takes more time. That keeps life easy (kind of).
I wish all readers a good and happy new year! Great trips in high or low latitudes, health and happiness! Maybe our paths will cross, near the poles or somewhere in between. Under the midnight sun or the polar light.
I guess I have to warn you here: this is not for the faint-hearted. The story and a related video on youtube are disturbing.
There has been an extreme case of cruelty to a polar bear on Wrangel Island in the far eastern Russian arctic. A female polar bear accompanied by cubs had visited a construction site regularly. Appearently, she had become used to people, who fed her regularly. In November, a firecracker was mixed into the food and exploded in her mouth, heavily injuring the animal. A youtube video shows the bear moving around in great pain and losing blood. The firecracker is said to have been a military-type banger normally used for military education and training, containing 80 gram gunpowder.
The offender was the cook, who said later that it was an act of self defence, an attempt to divert the polar bear’s attention away from another nearby person. This is, however, unlikely to be true, according to local media, who report that the bear had been used to people and never showing aggressive behaviour. It is said that workers quite commonly photographed themselves together with this particular polar bear.
A video is circulating on youtube, showing how the polar bear is suffering from strong pain and bleeding severely. Information about the condition of the bear since is contradictory: there are statements that she is alive, but others say she has not been seen since.
Initially the offender seemed to get away with a symbolic fine, but since the case drew international attention on the web, politicians including Russian Environment Minister Sergej Donskoj and the governor of Chukotka have demanded investigations and a lawsuit. The Attorney General has taken up investigations, which may lead to imprisonment up to 3 or 7 years, depending on source.
The online petition does not contain disturbing images, but the above mentioned youtube video is tough stuff: cruel and disturbing. If you want to see it, then this is the link.
The offender was (is?) working for the company Русальянс (Russallians), which is contracted by the Russian Ministry of Defence. Officially, the company is supporting a foundation that is working for the arctic environment, including a “harmonic relationship between humans and animals”.
November is not the time for long outdoor trips in the arctic. A slightly confused English tourist did not see any reason why he should not walk on his own from Longyearbyen to Pyramiden – in the polar night. Local could finally convince him that this was not a great thing to do.
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Thank you, Antigua, for great trips again in 2015! This includes, of course, all good people who have been part of it. The crew, the colleagues, the guests. Good people, good times, good stuff.
It was not just in nature that were lights were turned off, but also in the Norwegian mines in Spitsbergen. Not completely and finally, but it does look dark and the working force has been reduced drastically in 2015. Longyearbyen is shrinking, something the place is not used to at all. And Sveagruva is shrinking even more. There, they are getting ready for years of being a sleeping beauty. But nobody knows if this sleep will ever really end to give way to renewed activity.
Soon after the evacuation was lifted on Tuesday evening it turned out that more houses are damaged so strongly that they have to be abandoned. The inhabitants had to leave them again soon. The houses are located in Vei 228 (yellow circle in picture below) and owned by the state-owned Statsbygg, who was at least able to quickly provide replacement accommodation. It is at least possible to return to the buildings to get personal belongings.
This is more luck than those have who lived in the now strongly damaged houses (red circle) hit by the avalanche with full force. This area remains closed to all non-authorized traffic according to Lokalstyre (the local administration), who will make a plan how the former inhabitants can get their personal belongings.
Queen Sonja of Norway and minister of justice Anundsen visited the avalanche site on Thursday afternoon.
A family who have lost their home in Vei 236 and almost their lives have now published their dramatic experience of the avalanche in Svalbardposten. They were in their kitchen, having breakfast with their two little children and a friend when the avalanche hit. They were completely buried in snow before anyone could react and they just managed with a lot of luck and the power that comes from desperation to get themselves at least partly out of the snow until help came. Altogether it took about three quarters of an hour to get everybody out. They were buried under up to two meters of hard snow, mixed with sharp fragments of wood and other debris. They were taken to hospital and partly treated for hypothermia in advanced stages. Due to an amazing amount of luck and a lot of help during and after the dramatic event, they are all well now.
The residential area hit by the avalanche. The houses marked by the red circle are largely destroyed. As it turned out now, some buildings in Vei 228 (yellow circle) also have to be abandoned.
Meanwhile, I had the great pleasure to spend a very memorable week with the Icelandic schooner Ópal in Scoresbysund in east Greenland. What can I say. A stunning display of arctic colours, a landscape on a scale of its own kind. A heavy storm raging out on the open sea and in Iceland, calming down just in time to let us fly out without problems – yes, some luck on your side is always helpful. And so is a buffer day in Iceland if you come back from Greenland, just in case. I just mention it …
I was on the sailing yacht Arctica II when July left and August came. This summer was unusually ice-rich in Svalbard, so we expected to be unable to circumnavigate Spitsbergen, something that had not been the case for several years. But who would complain about too much ice in the arctic? Usually, we are moaning about the opposite these days.
Crossing Prins Karls Forland from west to east is not quite like crossing Greenland. It can easily be done as a day hike. But how often do you have the opportunity? The sea calm enough to go ashore on the exposed outer side? The weather good enough to make it really enjoyable? Everything worked out well and we all thoroughly enjoyed the stunning views over Prins Karls Forland and the adjacent seas and mountains.
Something that crosses my mind when I think back of this trip is the days that we spent in the ice in the southeast. The combination of ice and current in Heleysund was indeed spectacular and something one would not necessarily want to do every day. Having done that, we considered the circumnavigation a fact and I was happy to get to Barentsøya and Edgeøya. A summer without getting to these islands in southeastern Svalbard would not be quite complete.
Not quite complete as of yet was our circumnavigation, as it turned out. The ice in southern Storfjord actually almost made us doubt it would happen at all, but after spending some time looking for a passage, the strong Hurtigruten ship Fram suddenly came, pushed into the ice, thus creating a channel that we could use comfortably.
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
While were were circumnavigating Spitsbergen not without some effort, some brave adventurers went around Nordaustland – in sea kayaks! Actually, two teams did this almost simultaneously. For one of them, it was just a part of a pretty extreme trip from and to Longyearbyen. This was one of the last big „firsts“ to be had in Svalbard. Congratulations!
The weather in Longyearbyen is finally settling with temperatures below zero and little wind, so authorities could now lift the evacuations and general ban on any traffic in areas on the eastern side of the settlement. People are free to return to their homes since Tuesday evening, 2000.
The catastrophic avalanche before Christmas, which destroyed 11 houses and killed two people, was followed by an evacuation of a total of 114 flats. Consequently, about 200 people had to leave their homes, near 10 % of the total population. The exact number is unknown, as not everybody concerned reported to the authorities. Some are also, as is quite common, on Christmas holidays, following the events from warm beaches far away.
At the same time, the avalanche hazard for parts of Longyearbyen is highlighted by authorities. This risk had been known for a long time, but now it has brutally come to everybody’s minds, finally. A preliminary system with actual avalanche risk evaluation has been installed on varsom.no, as has been commonly used in mainland Norway for some time already. Ways to deal with the risk locally will be discussed now. Areas at risk will be mapped and then measures from technical safety means to – potentially – permanent evacuation of some areas will considered. The local community administration (Lokalstyre) is responsible, in cooperation with relevant technical authorities.
The lack of safety measures, a warning system and public awareness, also within the authorities, has received criticism, as the risk had been known for many years. Longyearbyen will see a debate about responsibility.
The long circumnavigation of Spitsbergen with SV Antigua is always an important milestone in peak season. This is the case even when the trip turns out not to be a circumnavigation. Instead, at some point we had to continue the opposite way. Not only does this sound better than going back, but it is quite true. This point was reached at the ice edge in southern Hinlopen, where it became obvious for everybody who was there that a sailing ship, and actually any vessel other than the very strongest ones, would not continue any further that way. But think of all we would have missed had things gone any other way! The whales far out on open sea, the Little auks in Hyttevika … to mention just to events that cross my mind very spontaneously.
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
The polar bear in Raudfjord that appeared exactly where I had picked up the last ones just minutes earlier. The colours of the tundra, full with countless flowers, surprise meetings with scientists … not to mention the three polar bears, not related, who happened to be all in the same place, on the ice of the lagoon of Mushamna, following their individual ways for hours, meeting occasionally for moments, keeping a watchful eye on one another. No human will ever know what a polar bear really thinks of any other polar bear. Usually, they will treat each other with respect and be rather careful. We were blessed with an opportunity to observe that for the best parts of a memorable day.
Just in time as May gave way to June we arrived with SV Antiuga in southern Spitsbergen, coming from Bear Island. A definite highlight amongst this year’s events is the encounter with a polar bear family in Van Keulenfjord. Who could ever forget that? Antigua was moored along the fast ice edge, in peace and silence, until in the very early morning hours the officer on watch came down to wake everybody up. The polar bear family that had been seen already the day before, kilometres away out on the ice, had come to the ship out of curiosity. The mother was a bit more careful and stayed more in the background, but did not mind her two cubs, both looking well and healthy, coming straight up to the ship and investigating us from all sides. An amazing way to start a day!
A nuisance for those concerned, but later an event not without some entertaining value: Longyearbyen airport was running out of fuel. A nice little reminder that the arctic is still a remote place, and even these days it may happen that supplies are not always available when they are needed. Some flights directly bound for Oslo had to make a stopover in Tromsø for refuelling.
Meanwhile, many were wondering if polar bears now have discovered dolphins as their favourite prey, as seen and photographed the year before, and now photos and discussions were coming up. Weird. Obviously nobody has spent much thought on how polar bears should get hold of dolphins on a regular basis. When nature happens to serve dolphins on a silver tablet, for example by them getting stuck in ice in a fjord, then a polar bear wouldn’t be a polar bear if he said no to the opportunity. But that is really no news.
Click on thumbnail to open an enlarged version of the specific photo.
Later in June, I could add another experience to the already long list of this year’s memorable and pleasant events: the view from the top of Beerenberg, Jan Mayen’s famous volcano. A dream of several years, taking years of preparations, became a reality in my second attempt, made possible by a friendly weather god and realized with considerable effort. It was worth every hard breath, and there were quite a few.