We sailed through the narrow of Heleysundet further along the east coast of Spitsbergen. Het was hier witter en ijziger, precies waar walrussen van houden.
June 28
It was only 11 a.m. on this chilly morning in the Arctic and we had already finished a wonderful zodiac tour at the Negribreen glacier. We started early today because we had to be at a precise spot between 11 and 12 am due to the strong tidal currents between the islands. Only then was it possible to travel against the current through the narrow passage between Spitsbergen and Barentsøya (Barents Island), called Heleysundet. The MS Fram had only done this once before, which made it feel even more like a real expedition.
Our route through Heleysundet
on the Vessel Finder app.
It was very crowded on the deck as the coast came closer and closer on both sides and we were sailing between the islands. Slowly, we glided past hills, glaciers, and floes of ice. The weather was overcast, and the gray sky seemed to have washed all color out of the landscape, except for a thousand shades of gray, with here and there some soft blues and browns from the rocks.
There were all kinds of birds flying around, and we spotted a couple of walruses in the water and in the distance on an ice floe. They were too fast or too far away to photograph.
At one point, two walruses drifted by quietly on an ice floe, we looked at them, and they looked at us!
By now, we had sailed through the narrow strait between the islands and were very hunger. While we were eating, a seal floated by on an ice floe and I was able to take a picture of it through the window. What a fantastic day with a jam-packed program. There was just no time for a quiet meal today!
And the day was not over yet, as another Zodiac landing was on the schedule.
