A dynamic skyline welcomed us to the day. Clouds crept through the valleys and wrapped around the mountains, landing on the fast ice filling the bays and fjords. After encountering Atlantic walruses in the morning, we set out to land for wonderful views of a glacier. Polar bear and Arctic fox tracks paraded about the snow as Northern fulmars and other seabirds streaked by. The rest of the day we explored the beauty of Bellsund, with sightings of two polar bears in the distance and delighted by epic views of this arctic landscape.
5/11/2025
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National Geographic Resolution
Moffen Island
It is a rare thing indeed to find a place to land where only ONE person on the expedition team has been before. There can be very few of these destinations in any polar region, such is the breadth of experience we have on board, and yet we accomplished this today. A stiff breeze following National Geographic Resolution chilled early risers as we traversed the north coast of Spitsbergen Island towards the east. Our destination was an island – well more accurately a shingle bank called Moffen – which is a nature reserve. Timing is significant when visiting the islands of Svalbard, especially in the nature reserves, which are closed between May 15th and September 1st. An early scout in our Zodiacs took the rifle team out to look for a landing. Ice everywhere, including brash ice and old chunks of pack ice resembling piles of Legos. There was a small piece of shore upon which we could land our Zodiacs. Immediately a plan was made, and people came ashore. The ice returned, and we retreated until after lunch, and then, lo and behold, we were able to land everyone from the ship onto this little piece of nowhere. At 80 degrees north, there is nothing between Moffen and the North Pole apart from ice and water. What a remarkable Mother’s Day!
