The new Spitsbergen calendar 2018 is here, fresh from the printer, and ready for ordering and shipping! Since 2012, the Spitsbergen calendar has almost become a little, annual tradition: 12 beautiful photos take you through the arctic seasons. We will enjoy polar landscapes and light, wildlife and ice. From the polar night with the stunning aurora, the northern lights, to the bright midnight sun, from a frozen water fall in the cold winter to the flowers that bring lovely colours to the tundra in the arctic summer. And of course we meet some of the big animals, as we observe a curious polar fox having a look at a bunch of lazy walrusses and we encounter two very young twin polar bears somewhere on a frozen fjord.
Click here for further information about the new Spitsbergen calendar 2018, including previews of all pages and the option to order. As always, the calendar is available in two sizes, A3 and A5, to suit your wishes and needs. And you can save money by ordering more than one – Christmas will come soon enough! 🙂
Overview of all pages of the new Spitsbergen-calendar 2018. Click here for more information, including larger views.
Longyearbyen is not entirely free of drugs, as most places where humans live. Apart from the Scandinavian style of alcohol consumption, which may be noteworthy as seen from a central-European perspective, there are also harder drugs. It is not a secret in Longyearbyen that there is more or less regular consumption of hemp in certain circles.
Every couple of years, whenever it is considered necessary, the Sysselmannen takes action against drugs, amongst others with searching and detention of those found responsible for keeping the scene alive. In the past, this has even led to the expulsion of people from Svalbard, with an entry ban for a certain period such as two years. In modern times, banishment is certainly rather unusual in jurisdiction in western countries, but this instrument is kept available in Svalbard to protect the small and geographically isolated community. The authorities are aware of the danger of drugs for bored youngsters in the long polar winter in a small place like Longyearbyen.
The subject is currently coming up again. Last weekend, the Sysselmannen has searched places and people with help from police forces from mainland Norway, including a trained police dog from Oslo. Three persons were taken in custody. The investigation will be continued.
Typical environments where hemp has been found in Longyearbyen in the past are youngsters and students. This time, people who are in the focus of police attention belong to the tourism industry. There is mention of drugs harder than hemp, but no further information has been released so far.
Drugs in the Arctic? As if nature itself was not exciting enough!
On Sunday (August 6) morning, a private yacht got into a dramatic situation at sea in Svalbard. It took water and was not far from sinking. Three persons were on board, all of them German. They are all well now. The incident took case near Dunderbukta, at the west coast of Spitsbergen south of Bellsund.
Shallows and exposed shorelines: the west coast of Spitsbergen can by very inhospitable.
The crew called for help via German rescue services, who alarmed the Norwegian authorities. The three, who were already on board their life raft at that time, were then taken on board the Norwegian cargo ship Norbjørn. Norbjørn also started to tow the sailing boat. The three rescued persons remained on Norbjørn for the passage to Longyearbyen, which they preferred rather than a flight on the helicopter which was soon on the scene. Their sailing boat was towed to Longyearbyen by the pilot boat from the port of Longyearbyen.
It turned out that a hose that connected a septic tank to the hull had got loose, enabling water to rush into the boat.
According to the Sysselmannen, the case will be handed over to the insurances without further police involvement.