Ursus Maritimus x3



I feel I've now had the proper Svalbard experience after a very exciting trip to Tunabreen glacier last Friday. After a week filled with lectures and computer work we headed back out into the field, this time setting out to see the glacier Tunabreen; this is a calving glacier, so forms a large ice cliff at its snout where blocks of ice are calving off into the sea.
All 26 of us piled on the snowmobile gear ready for a 2.5 hr drive in temperatures of -23C. I tried out driving again but quickly had to swap with Martim as my fingers lost all sensation; I'm much better suited to the passenger position. After a few stops to adjust clothing and make sure everyone's noses were covered to avoid frostbite, we made it to the sea.

Luckily for us there was at least 30 cm of sea ice up to Tunabreen's calving front so we could proceed
over Tempelfjorden to view the impressive glacier from prime position, in front of the ice cliff. As we drove across the ice, we could sea large footprints in the snow and about a kilometer from Tunabreen's toe the snowmobile line came to a halt. Straight ahead, strolling along the glacier front were 3 polar bears!

From our safe distance there was a flurry of activity as cameras and binoculars were whipped out and everyone gathered to watch the ginormous bears make there way along the sea ice. Luckily they did not appear to be bothered by our presence and crossed to the other side of the valley, allowing us to slowly proceed closer to the impressive calving front.
With the guides stood on watch, flare guns and rifles at the ready, we had a quick lecture on the dynamics of Tunabreen; I'm not sure how much anyone took in as we gazed around, trying to keep an eye on the furry trio or capture the bright blue ice ahead of us.

Adrian's photo of the 3 polar bears.


After a mini photo shoot we hopped back on the scooters and whizzed back to solid land to eat our lunches, before they froze solid. By now we were all very chilly and the light was starting to fade so we made our way back through the wide valleys of Sassendalen and Adventdalen, arriving at UNIS in time for the Friday gathering drinks. Word spread quickly and others were very jealous of our glaciology course's polar bear encounter.

Snowmobile ready - Julien's photo





The weekend was pretty grotty weather-wise with temperatures further dropping to -27C in Longyearbyen and strong winds adding a wind chill to take it to -37C. A few people still head up the nearby mountain in hope of seeing the first sun (clouds got in the way), resulting in Johannes returning with a frostbitten toe: the biggest blister I've ever seen!
The bad weather didn't keep people away from the uni halls kitchen-to-kitchen party though. Each of the kitchens in our accommodation and the other student accommodation across the other side of town, organised a themed party, complete with games involving clambering around tables, water fights, passing people over our heads and some cheesy karaoke. Each party lasted 40 minutes then we proceeded on to the next kitchen. Our floor created a 'glacier cave' with a tunnel of tables to crawl through into our blue and white cave, lit only by torchlight.

Another of Adrian's photos






Now back into lectures, with group presentations tomorrow and a shorter field trip on Friday, in preparation for the intense field campaign next week.










The waving ones are Martim and I




I'm the one up above the rest


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