This morning we awoke to a very strong east headwind of over 40 knots while navigating east into Hornsund. Hornsund is a fjord on the southwest side of Spitsbergen here in Norway’s Svalbard. This fantastical landscape was shrouded with clouds, white capped waves, and occasional beams of sunlight. A landscape photographers dream for those willing to brave the winds on the outer decks.
Our bridge team of National Geographic Endurance found us an excellent sheltered part of the back of the fjord system to go ashore on a beach near a place called Minuttøyra in east Burgerbukta. After the shore team scouted the area to make sure it was free of polar bears, we set off to explore the snow fields, moraines, and shorelines by foot. Many great photos were made of what will likely be our last landing on Spitsbergen Island here in Svalbard as we soon will need to head south towards Tromsø where our voyage will end.
In the afternoon we spent some time cruising the shorelines via ship and enjoying the scenery and scouring the shoreline for wildlife. An excellent presentation was given by Historian Gerard Baker on the history of Svalbard.
