Polar bear in the town

A visit of a polar bear in Longyearbyen is not an every day event, but not unheard of either. First clear indicators of a polar bear visit are the people, who are running around with their cameras, laughing and smiling exaltedly – like small children in the Christmas Eve – erecting tripods for spotting scopes and cameras or behaving hysterically in other ways. 

This week it happened. Some sea ice from the South had drifted into the fjord. Seeing the ice coming night before, I was not that surprised to see people running around following behavioural characteristics described above. Clearly, there was a polar bear around. Polar bear watching took place for the whole Friday. People giggling, whispering and running for the whole day just a few steps from my office. Sometimes it is just more interesting to observe the behaviour of the people, when they see an animal, than the behaviour of the animal itself…

That necessary polar bear photo. “It’s there, it’s there! Can’t you see that yellow dot?!”. As tourist quality as ever possible… 

People watching the yellow dot somewhere on sea ice.

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Svalbard rock ptarmigans

Not a summer without birds. This time I got an opportunity to take photos of Svalbard rock ptarmigan (lat. Lagopus muta, nor. fjellrype, fin. kiiruna) couple. They were more interested in pecking seeds and probably fairly excited about the idea of having sex that they forgot to pay attention to us. We could lay still and observe their pecking almost for half an hour only a few meters away. An unforgettable experience!

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The first weeks in Longyearbeyn

Svalbard is a place for winter. During the summer landscape feels paranormal. Like the archipelago was waiting for the winter to start again. Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to visit Svalbard during winter very much lately. Misfortune with science became a fortune with private life the weekend after my arrival.

When I arrived Longyearbyen, I came in the middle of winter. There was ice in the fjord. About -10 degrees and typical Svalbard winter wind was blowing fiercely through my clothing. Dusty fine snow was forming clouds, whose tingled freshly on my face. Sea-ice had brought the polar bears and three of them had been seen in the town just a day before my arrival. 

Since everything was delayed, we had a change to go for a combined snow scooter and skiing trip to a UNIS staff cabin. Skiing with over-long fjell-ski and size 47 boots was not that enjoyable, but the trip reminded me, why I had once years ago, called home this cold Arctic island. Summers I spent on Svalbard were generally just filled with work. The hectic fuzziness was enough to kill the longing I once felt towards the archipelago. 

Winter went on for two more weeks. Those weeks I spent in a lab working for no results. Our experiments failed due to problems with logistics and finally to the fact that clams we were trying to spawn had done it already. This winter was warmer than the last one. Difference was enough to cause the clam populations to spawn a couple of weeks earlier than last year.

Melting season started some weeks ago. Now it is impossible to go anywhere without braving the thundering rivers. I am desperately trying to find someone, who could dive with me to collect samples. At the same time, I do some pilot experiments in the lab. Ideas are many, but making them to work seems like a difficult task. Right now it's a wrong time to give up... 

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