On the way out I saw this curious little guy. I drifted quietly while it came swimming straight toward me. When it got to about 12' away (4 m) it turned and took off.
Here's today's plan. To kayak out to the far point on the far (north) side of the Adventfjord, a distance of about 6 miles (10 km) one way...just like paddling from Sheldrake to Aurora, or the Inlet Lighthouse to the Myers Point Lighthouse. Not a big deal today with a breeze, but for the past few days the wind has been fierce from the southeast, gaining the strength of freight trains over the glaciers and ice cap for 50-60 miles until finally funneling down this fjord out to sea, at left in the photo. Coupled with a strong 3-4 knot current running with the incoming tide it's been challenging finding favorable conditions. It's either that pesky southeast wind or a blasting north wind, barreling off the glaciers across the big fjord, Isfjorden. Or maybe I'm just a wimp and looking for easier paddling while on shore. We've had our share of wind out in the fjords of Spitsbergen! It doesn't get any calmer than this is today.
The above is a view from my hotel room window. The kayak sits on a pyramid shaped rack, seen in this photo as a small yellow lump next to shore, to the right of the buildings (enlarged photo below). The far view shows glaciers and mountains on the far side of Isfjorden, a distance of 25-30 miles distant. The surrounding soil features are tundra atop permafrost, which in summer is now found 10-20 cm down.
The guy who owns one of the small cabins on the far point is a kayaker, too. With his friends last weekend they schlepped carpeting out to cover the floors and then stayed over. The only reason they could and not fear bears was they'd also brought along a dog and several rifles.
A polar bear was shot two weeks ago, a rarity these days as they're protected throughout the entire Arctic. A group of Russian geologists was in the field hiking up on Nordaustlandet, the big island off the northeast corner of Svalbard about 100 miles from here in Longyearbyen as the guillemot flies. The bear approached, yet, after 5-6 warning shots in the air, continued forward progress. As it charged the group they had no choice but to shoot it. Locals are saddened, this isn't the intended outcome. But it must have been one hungry bear, as most have left these parts following the sea ice and seals northward. A hefty fine of $10,000-50,000 can be levied if the bear is more than 30 meters away and not in fully engaged, aggressively charging motion. According to locals there's always a threat of bear anywhere around the village out of range of human civilization.
Roads around here dead end in less than 5 km in any given direction (but for one road leading to a village 14 km away, where it then dead ends) yet are considered safe as traffic passes through every couple of minutes during the daytime hours. The most heavily traveled road is the one passing through the shipping district out to the airport a distance of about 4 km.
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