Day 3: Gnålodden and Burgabukta

Black-and-white scenes, glaring sun, and distant seals

After our day spent in the fjords near Longyearbyen, we sailed south. Our original intention sailing south was to round the tip of Spitsbergen and explore the east side of the island, but due to the weather forecast, this location ended up the furthest we would sail.

The conditions on day 2 were almost exactly the same as day 1 - Sunny and few clouds in the sky. In fact, temperatures climbed north of 40 degrees and you could even wear a t-shirt comfortably.

In the morning, we landed on a beach called Gnålodden. Gnålodden was our first experience up close and personal with the sheer cliff faces of Svalbard, but it also happens to be the site of an isolated hunting and trapping cabin that a Norwegian woman called home for 7 continuous years. The cabin is now only used occasionally. The first photo below gives a sense of the scale of the mountain - You can see the size of the people on the beach and the cabin on the beach just to the left of center.

The constantly sunny conditions proved a challenge for landscape photography. In fact, none of the color photos I took at this location I particularly like. Instead, this was a location where black and white photography really shined. My favorite shot is the third one in the series. A drone piloted by one of the guides disturbed the birds and caused them to take flight all in the same direction, resulting in a dramatic scene in front of the otherwise minimalist background of the mountains with the pillowy cloud cover.

After our landing at Gnålodden, we headed into a glacial fjord called Burgabukta. This location was our first encounter up close with glacial ice. We also encountered our first seal, although from a distance. The image below was shot fully extended at 560mm.

After completing our zodiac cruise in Burgabukta, we headed back to the ship and set sail north. As we exited the fjord, the incoming storm front made it clear why we needed to head back north.