11-Jul-2011 -- The land of polar bears and the midnight sun.
On-board the National Geographic Explorer as the 2011 National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows, Ann Christianson from Wisconsin and I from Maine traveled to the Svalbard Islands on a clockwise circumnavigation of this far northern archipelago. Our journey started in Oslo, Norway on July 7; after a 3 hour flight due north, we arrived in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. The average temperatures were between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius and brisk winds were common; on Thursday July 14, winds gusted to 50 mph. The Explorer’s itinerary was dependent on the ice and wind conditions. Each day had periods of cloud and sun without sunsets. The Svalbard islands are rich with wild life species, whales, walrus, reindeer, arctic fox and polar bear. Many species of sea birds and wildflowers display a flurry of activity to reproduce in Svalbard’s short summer.
Early on our expedition, our Captain Oliver Kruess agreed to steer the ship to 80N and 12E. Based on our average speed of 15 kn; he predicted that we would reach this confluence early morning of July 11. Officer Yuri was responsible for navigating toward the confluence. One of the young people on board, Jane Sidley, California agreed to monitor the NGS Explorer’s GPS navigation system. At 3:27am, we reached the confluence 80N,12E. The waters were calm and the sun shining with sea birds flying across the bow. The northern coast of Svalbard was visible along the southern horizon on the starboard side. The next day, Captain Kruess set the course to reach the expedition’s farthest northern extent. We reached 80.39.5965N, less than 579 nautical miles from the North Pole.