Svalbard 2015-12: Smeerenburgfjorden & Smeerenburg

Day 13: July 12th ~ The Day of the Walruses, but not for Sleeping Beauty!
During the night, the PP sailed into open water & passed the 80o north line at 0025.
Had I known, I may have stayed awake, but I didn't, so I didn't.
Shame :-( 
I will never pass this way again.
The Puffin Post in our cabins the night before told us breakfast would be at 0700 (again! :-0) & that we would cruise Smeerenburgfjorden in the morning.
This is what Wiki has to say about it

Smeerenburgfjorden is a fjord in Albert 1 Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It has a length of about twenty kilometers and a width of about four kilometers. The fjord is named after the old whaling settlement Smeerenburg, which was situated at the southern part of Amsterdam Island. The fjord is located between the peninsulas of Vasahalvøya and Reuschhalvøya, and connects westwards through the straits of Danskegattet and Sørgattet. The Smeerenburgbreen glacier debouches into the head of the fjord.

Debouches! 

Posh techie word that. 

I had to look it up ;-p

It means:
In the geography of rivers, streams, and glaciers, a debouch, or debouche, is a place where runoff from a small, confined space emerges into a larger, broader space. The term is of French origin and means to cause to emerge. The term also has a military usage. 

One of the Smeerenburgfjorden zodiacs
heads off into the mist

Anyway, I chose not to spend another couple of hours sitting in a zodiac & just took a couple of pics of them leaving before 0830.

Another gets ready for a couple of hours cruising the fjord

Cressida, Warren & Michael didn't go either. I guess they also thought the mist wasn't worth it.

The photograph of the (empty) Scapa malt bottle

This is pic of an Aurora Expedition postcard & my name badge.
We had been supposed to wear the badge at the beginning
of the trip, but I didn't bother & it went in the bin after this pic

Instead of the cruise, my notes say I read (no idea what), packed, read, drank hot choc, read, & took pics of the Scapa malt bottle.

I couldn't take it home, so the pic is my keepsake.

At just before 11, the zodiacs appeared out of the mist & murk

It was still an hour or so to lunch, so I took some photos of my fellow PP passengers. 
They've come in handy during the the last 7 months of this Svalbard blog process, helping me identify the peeps in my pics.

Lunch was early - at 1200, & afterwards we were to go on another trip out ~ this time with the intent of going ashore & maybe seeing more local flora & fauna. 
Walruses were mentioned, as well as the possibility of polar bears.
I went back to the cabin to get warm clothes on, & lay on the bed awaiting Gary's call to the zodiacs.
I never heard it :-/
Waking about 30 minutes later I was the only passenger left aboard, & going up on the top deck left me no clue as to where everyone had gone, it was so misty.
Talk about a white-out!
Anyway, I wanted to record what I'd missed by the Sleeping Beauty event, so I asked Andy if he would send me some photos. This is what he sent:~

Hi Shirley,

Sorry to say that you missed a big highlight. A single young walrus separated from the group and came over to our boats just to see what kind of animals the boats are.

The 1st & 2nd pics are from Mike - you will recognize the quality.

The 3rd I was standing only 1m away from the walrus and we became friends. Gary and Heidi in their red jackets were also very privileged to sit in the first row.

After that the animal returned to open water and it was impressive how fast they are in their enviorment. I have short movies about that which I will send in a separate emails.

Andy xx

Andy says this is one of Mike's .  .  . 

Mike was the Expedition photographer, & I think that's Gary
~ the Aurora Expedition Leader, saying "Hi Master Walrus"
Or maybe Miss Walrus?

The young walrus takes a look at the strange black beast

I think that's Heidi getting a head shot

What strikes me most in this, is that how small an
adult human is in comparison to the walrus!

I remember Andy showing me these photos on their
return to the PP.    I was a total idiot for falling asleep!

He/she clearly didn't like the smell of the diesel ;-)  .  .  .

or maybe it was the humans who smelled??

As I explained in earlier blogs, Andy used a small video camera
throughout the trip, & kindly sent me his photos of puffins from
Fair Isle he'd frame-grabbed. At this point (Jan'18) we are still
swapping Es, & I asked him last night if he would send me his
favourite walrus pics   Aren't they awesome? ! ! ! !

As he said in his E, Andy also sent a couple of short video clips, & this is what he said about them:~
At the beginning you will recognize that I will do 1 step back during filming. These animals are very impressive :-)

Step back or not, I think he got some great footage, & I really wish I had seen it live.
Ah well, as they say in Lancashire ~ "That'll learn me" to fall asleep in the middle of the day!

I kept an eye out for the next hour or so (in between nipping back down for a hot choc & a warm), & eventually the 1st zodiac materialised out of the mist at about 20 to 4.

The passengers were to tell me about their amazing
experiences with the walruses.
Yours truly, Sleeping Beauty, missed it all :-(

The Puffin Post had said we were to have a briefing about the disembarkation procedure in the lecture theatre at 1600, followed by settling our bar accounts.
Once everyone was back aboard ~ & tags turned for the last time, we all had our last afternoon tea & lovely, freshly-baked cakes.
We then headed downstairs for our instructions about tomorrow ~ our last day :-(

Most of the passengers were off back to the Antipodes, but there were a few of us Europe bound ~ including Diane who was off to Taunton rather than Aus, & Dobbie who was planning to see a bit of Europe before starting University.

Up from Bear Island to Alkehornet, then further north
before turning back south to Smeerenburgfjorden

While I was in the bar afterwards I took pics of the routes around Svalbard they'd hung on the walls for us to look at.

The Alkehornet bit

The red line is our route NNE from Alkehornet, curving into
Fuglefjorden, out & E to Raudfjorden, up to 80o03‘N, before sailing down into Smeerenburgfjorden & then South

The last supper dinner

We had "Captain's Farewell Drinks" at 1845 followed by our last dinner aboard.

After that we were treated to a World Premier slide-show of the Kayakers' adventures.

This is a pic of the 1st slide from the Kayakers' "World Premier"
It about says it all, really :-)

After the briefing we had all written our E-addresses down, & did the usual promises of sending decent photos to each other.
Subsequently, I sent various peeps some of mine, but no-one sent me any eagle photos :-(
At least I got some of my photos chosen for the Aurora Expedition log-book. See next blog for that.
During the 1600 briefing, Gary had asked us to 'donate' any clothes we didn't want to take home, so ~ after the Kayakers' slide show, I went back to my cabin, unpacked & took a few bits & pieces up to the office & left them for the crew.
My notes say I left 2 T-shirts, a sport jacket, a pair of white jeans, & the silk stuff I'd taken in case I needed a nightie.
Consequently, my little carry-on ruckie was considerably less full on the way home.

The last pic of the day at 20 to 11 at night. Due to low
cloud there was no 'midnight sun' but it certainly wasn't dark

Then it was time for a final photo, & then bed.


OAO