This morning MS Expedition is anchored at the entrance of Isfjorden, the largest fjord on the main island of Spitsbergen and the fjord where Longyearbyen and Pyramiden are located. On the north side of the fjord is an interesting mountain peak that looks like Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland, called Alkhornet. Like the Matterhorn, Alkhornet is a triangular-shaped peak that leans over its steep vertical face.
Our ship's crew lower our ZodiacsŪ into the water so we can go to shore. We land our ZodiacsŪ on shore and set out see what we can find but are also on the lookout for polar bears that could be roaming around!
We can hear birds calling high above us. Birds come to Svalbad by the millions in the summer when a lot of the snow and sea ice melts. They migrate to Svalbard every year to feed on the fish and plankton that are abundant in the ocean here. The polar bears and Arctic foxes that live on Svalbard are predators of the birds and their eggs. To protect themselves and their eggs the birds nest on cliffs and mountain peaks.
Even though we can't easily see the birds that we hear we easily we can see some of the results on their nesting. Below the cliffs where the birds nest there are lots of green plants growing. When the birds poop their poop falls to the bottom of the mountain and is fertilizer to help plants grow. We can see where the birds like to nest because it is greenest below those cliffs!
The ground at the base of Alkhornet is soft, wet and squishy because of the snow that is melting. With the water, bird fertilizer and sunlight 24-hours a day the plants and tiny tundra flowers grow very well here.
We see some large animals on a hill near us...polar bears? No! They are Svalbard reindeer! These reindeer live on Svalbard year-round. In the winter the reindeer have white fur like polar bears! In the summer the reindeer shed their white fur and grow brown fur. We see a small herd of reindeer with mother and fathers and their calves. The newborn calves have white fur because that is their fur color when they are born.
All the reindeer we see have antlers except for the calves whose antlers have not grown out yet. In the winter the male reindeer shed their antlers so only female reindeer have antlers in the winter! That means because Santa's reindeer all have horns they are all girls! Who knew that Rudolph was really a girl??
The reindeer we see just ignore us! They are busy munching on the plants tundra flowers. The reindeer must eat as much as they can and get fat in the summer because there is not much food they can find in the winter so they live off the fat that they have gained in the summer.
Thinking of eating...we hear Capt. Sergei blow the horn of MS Expedition! He is letting us know to return to the ship for lunch and head toward another exciting place to visit in the afternoon!
Day 3 AM
