Date: 7th July
Latitude & longitude: 78.12°N, 21.07°E
Wind speed: 16.4 knots
Wind direction: NE
Barometer:  1024 hPa
Air temperature: 0°C
Sea temperature: 0.3°C

Total polar bear count: 9!

It was a beautiful day for a walk on land … and the polar bears agreed! Two more were spotted at Sundneset on Barentz Island so unfortunately we had no choice but to skip the morning hike.

Instead, we cruised ahead to the next planned landing at Dolerittneset. Here, we saw hundreds of walrus in the water and hauled out on the sandy beach.

On shore, Ben regaled us with tales of the Pomor people who had previously occupied the area, as we could see from the huts along the beach. The Pomor people are descended from Russian settlers and the name means ‘a person who lives near the sea’. Their traditional livelihood depended on animal hunting, whaling and fishing, and they also practised reindeer herding.

Speaking of reindeer, as we headed on a long hike up a huge, steep hill, we spotted some Svalbard reindeer grazing on the tundra. We made our way to the top of the hill, 720 metres, and paused to take in the sights.

On our way back down, I managed to step knee-deep into a mud-filled sinkhole and get completely stuck! As five people tried to pull me out, they each got stuck in turn! Eventually we made it back to the ship to find out that another group had been stuck in the mud as well, and though they made it back in one piece, one of their boots didn’t!

In the afternoon we found an amazing landing spot – Howard, our expedition leader on Greg Mortimer, managed to find a small bay at the edge of a glacier and we were able to walk on the glacier itself! We were in a spectacular area where three different types of glacier intersected; a debris-covered glacier, which is what we were walking on, a surging glacier and an active-front glacier.

After a long day of hiking and walking, we gathered together at Elephant Island Bar on the ship to share stories and pictures from the day.

See you tomorrow and thanks for reading!

Love from the A Team
Tanya, Gavin, Richard & Graeme