Morning brought brilliant blue skies and crisp temperatures, highlighting the Svalbard scenery. We had quite an exotic start to our day, with a Zodiac cruise along a tidewater glacier face, or for those who wanted, an exhilarating hike up the stable edge of that very glacier. Meltwater streams, glacial ice, the bright sun and seamless skies.... it was blue-on-white all the way round.
Immediately following breakfast, the Caledonian Star was positioned in front of Cape Fanshawe (see the photo). Home to tens and tens of thousands of pairs of thick-billed murres (Brunnich's guillemots) the cliffs were a cacophony of sound. In probably just a couple of weeks, most of the chicks here will take the "leap of faith", parachuting off the cliff face in an effort to fly, alas landing in the water where dad awaits to teach them how to fish for themselves as they further mature. Mom waits behind for perhaps another week, laying claim to the pair's "real estate" for next year's breeding and rearing of young.
The chick will probably not touch land again for 4-5 years, heading to the North Atlantic to feed and reach sexual maturity.
