Gallery Bellsund, Isfjord

A calm pas­sa­ge down south to Bell­sund was fol­lo­wed by 2 days with many high­lights in the bran­ches of this lar­ge fjord sys­tem. Fos­sils, some of Spitsbergen’s most per­fect­ly deve­lo­ped rai­sed bea­ches and water­falls in Van Keu­len­fjord, fol­lo­wed by the sight­ing of a White-bil­led Diver (Gavia adamsii), a very rare sight­ing in Spits­ber­gen. The sharp eyes of the bird­wat­cher also found the distant polar bear on the same day on the ice of a fro­zen gla­cier lagoon, while the moun­tain goats were enjoy­ing ama­zing views over a gre­at arc­tic land­scape in the fan­ta­stic light of ano­ther sun­set. Some real­ly nice nor­t­hern lights
kept some of us awa­ke for part of the night, but it was worth every minu­te of sleep we didn’t get.

Also the next day came with love­ly wea­ther, a bit less sun­ny, and gre­at impres­si­ons and views. The scenic struc­tures in Bell­sund are uni­que and quite impres­si­ve. Moun­ta­ins such as Mid­ter­huk­fjel­let and islands inclu­ding Akseløya make 400 mil­li­on years of Earth histo­ry visi­ble.

Sou­ve­nirs from Spitsbergen’s equa­tor years a good 250 mil­li­on years ago star­ted the next and las­ted day. The sight­ing of a polar bear on a rocky island next to the migh­ty Nor­dens­ki­öld­breen was the final high­light. The bear was a bit lazy and didn’t show too much acti­vi­ty, but the sight­ing was clear and the memo­ries are good and per­sis­tent.

For tho­se with an inte­rest in geo­lo­gy, and the­re were quite a few of them on board, it might be icing on the cream that the polar bear was lying on some of Spitsbergen’s oldest rocks …

Click on thumb­nail to open an enlar­ged ver­si­on of the spe­ci­fic pho­to.

To Gal­lery:  → Kross­fjord, Kongsfjord  → For­lands­und  → Bell­sund, Isfjord

← Back