June 30, still crossing to Greenland
Day at sea
Over cast at position 74.04.262 N and 009.28.156W heading of 189 at 14.9 knots
Great Lectures and lots of Harp Seals
We had been cruising along the Ice Pack off of Greenland here we saw literally 1000’s of Harp seals.
Yesterdays lectures were excellent from photo subjects to marine wildlife, to the basics of the krill.
Afternoon Tea had been changed up a bit and we had grilled sausages and beer on the aft sundeck.
The executive chef is rather young and started his culinary career in high school. Last night he turned the galley over to the Filipino Crew members. Roast suckling pig, spring rolls, beef curry, etc etc etc. all great.
Tomorrow we are heading to Jan Mayen.
July 1, 2015 :
Woke at 0400 and found us at 70’48.580 North and 009’ 17.722 West. This puts us off the Island of Jan Mayen an active volcanic island. On this island there are 18 people who man a Norwegian Weather Station. The plan for today is to visit this station and and do some walking.
This is only the second time the National Geographic Explorer has visited this Island. While it is windy and the sea a pinch choppy the skies are clearing and we are getting a vary rare look at this island.
Will have to see that we find on this island today:
At about 0600 we arrived at the weather station and conditions were not great so no landing there. The officer in charge of the station and a nurse were brought aboard and talked about life on the island.
From there we cruised slowly to a location where, if weather permitting, we could land. During this slow cruise to the new location we enjoyed taking pictures and hearing a lecture about the history of Jan Mayen.
After lunch we started to land on the beach. Our main instructions were to not enter any buildings and do not touch any antennas, no ice bears here so no armed guard and we were allowed to wander on our own. We hiked up a road to an area where we could see the Beerenberg volcano 2277 meters high. This is the only active volcano in Norway. On the cliffs there were Glaucous Gulls, Skua, Flumars, Kittiwakes, and a few puffins. Pretty much just bird life here as all other life was hunted to non existence.
Kvalrossbukta was the name of the landing area. This area is a naturally protected harbor, with a black volcanic sand beach. During 1615 to 1638 this location was a Dutch Whaling operation.
From the top of the hill we hiked to an area where there was more volcanic black sand. In this area amongst the drift wood we found several whale bones that were hundreds of years old. At times given the weathering of the bones and wood they blended together rather well making it hard to tell them apart from a distance .
The beach was black sand and very fine volcanic dust. This played havoc on lenses etc. The camera required a good cleaning upon return to the boat.
From Jan Mayen we will be headed back to the ICE giving us more chances to see Ice Bear. Seems like this is a heavy year for ice and as such where we go is up in the air.
Tea at 1600.
Tom gave a rather funny presentation about photography, basically a parody of serious photography, photo processing etc etc
After dinner we were tired and went to bed in anticipation of being awoken for an interesting sighting. None came so we slept thru the night.
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