⊂(・(ェ)・)⊃ Polar Bear Quest on Svalbard with Polar Quest - Day 6

Saturday 27^th of June 2015 and I was in my bed when the PA went off 20 minutes before 3. We were anchored and we would soon board the Zodiac to take us to the Whaling station on Smeerenburg Island and the launch site for Andree's try to reach the North Pole on Virgohamna.

Virgohamna was also the site for an American to try to reach the North Pole with a Zeppelin. Anyway, just close to us, on the beach at the Whaling station on Smeerenburg is a group of Walruses. Of course, we will check out as soon as we land on Smeerenburg beach. I saw one Walrus where we were going to land and a group of sleeping Walruses on the SE corner of Smeerenburg.

We were on our way when one of our fellow passengers spotted a whole group of Walruses swimming in the water next to us.

I never managed to get any good pictures. Out of focus, otherwise they would have been perfect. But I was happy to finally get to see the Walruses swimming from a close distance. And when we came ashore we were walking up to the Walruses sleeping on the beach. They were not scared and we could come very close to them. We got great pictures, and also, they had air coming out from both ends as they were digesting the food. And the smell, well, the whole beach was smelling, well, Hmm, ass gas?

The Walruses diving and disappears

There they go and we continue in to the beach

There was a beautiful glacier on the other side of the Smeerenburgfjorden

Another ship on the other side of the Smeerenburgfjorden

We reach the group of Walruses

We had made a few stops on the way to let them get used to us, and also to let them know that we are here

They have nails on the flippers and the back flippers almost looks like hands

Remains of Smeeringburg, a Dutch whaling station that was in use between 1614 to 1655

Remains of Smeeringburg, a Dutch whaling station that was in use between 1614 to 1655

The bird that attacked me

I had had a long look at the Walruses and I moved over to the sign to read a little about Smeeringburg whaling station. I was a little disappointed as I had expected there to be more remains of the whaling station. There was much debris laying around, but I was not sure if it was remains from the Smeeringburg or if it was driftwood.

I walked towards the group and I must have come close to a bird's nest because suddenly I had a bird charging at me. I had to run away with the bird chasing me while I was waving my arms and camera above my head to avoid having the angry bird attacking me. I was back at the Walruses when my new friend from America came walking towards us. He was soon under attack from the bird as well. And this time I had my camera stand-by.

And believe me, it was not a nice experience to have the duck flying over you while screaming and you had no clue where he was, except that he was to close and wanted to kill you.

And he came every close, way too close.

We went back to have another look at the Walruses before we walked back tot he Zodiacs. It was time to leave Smeeringburg whaling station and cross the strait to get to Virgohamna.

At Virgohamna we will see where Salomon August Andrèe tried to reach the North Pole in his hydrogen Balloon.

Salomon August Andrèe and his hydrogen Balloon was not the only failure at Virgohamna. The American Walter Wellman was trying to reach the North Pole with an airship from Virgohamna 1906 and 1909

We met m/s Stockholm on the way to Virgohamna and m/s Stockholm is the second ship PolarQuest tis using for Polar Bear Quest here on Svalbard.

We landed on Virgohamna and we split in to two groups. One group to start with the Salomon August Andrèe side and one group started with the Walter Wellman side. I went straight to a map/ info to get an overview of the area. This was of course what we should have had started with, alternatively we could have got a map over the area.

Virgohamna

(English: Virgo Bay) is a small bay on the northern coast of Danskøya, an island off the northwestern coast of Spitsbergen, the main island of the Svalbard archipelago. The bay is named after SS Virgo, the vessel of Swedish Engineer and explorer Salomon August Andrée's 1896 expedition.

The Dutch were the first to use Virgohamna as a whaling base as early as 1633 (perhaps earlier). The Dutch overwinterers in 1633-34 referred to it as "Houcker Bay". In 1636, with no room being available along the beach at Smeerenburg, the newly added Friesland chamber of the Noordsche Compagnie established what was later called the Harlingen kokerij ("Cookery of Harlingen").

By 1662 the ships from Harlingen had found little use for the station, with the merchants of the original charter offering other Dutch whalers its use for a certain fee. The German surgeon Friderich Martens visited the (by then) abandoned station in 1671, where he found four buildings still standing, "whereof two were warehouses, in the others they dwelt".

There he found tools and barrels frozen up in the ice. Archaeological excavations have found the remains of five buildings and two double-ovens belonging to the station. Another station was found on Æøya (named after the common eiders that reside there), a small island on the eastern side of the bay.

It was here, in 1896, that S.A. Andrée built his balloon house. Adverse winds forcing Andrée to return home on his first attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon, he returned to Virgohamna in the summer of 1897. He left the bay early in July in what would be a fatal attempt to reach the pole.

In 1906, American Walter Wellman built an airship hangar and base camp in the bay. The hangar wasn't completed until August, forcing Wellman to return the following summer, where he again failed in his goal to the North Pole by airship. Wellman returned to Virgohamna once more in 1909; he again failed to reach the pole.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Salomon August Andrée

(18 October 1854, Gränna, Småland – October 1897, Kvitøya, Arctic Norway), during his lifetime most often known as S. A. Andrée, was a Swedish engineer, physicist, aeronaut and polar explorer who died while leading an attempt to reach the Geographic North Pole by hydrogen balloon. The balloon expedition was unsuccessful in reaching the Pole and resulted in the deaths of all three of its participants.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map/ Info about the area - Click HERE for a bigger picture

I was standing there reading and looking at the pictures. I also took a picture that I could read during our walk a round. Our Doctor from the Philippines came and told me that I had to join the others. It was not allowed to walk there, only on the footpaths.
- What the

Do they think they put a map/ information in the middle of an area where we can't walk? Fer foocks sake! I had been looking forward to this visit and now I turned in to a bad mood! Seriously, are we out here with a group of idiots?

NO! I'M NOT GOING TO PUT THE ARTIFACTS ON FIRE! I HAVE NO PLANS TO WALK ON THE GRAVES! NEITHER DO I HAVE ANY PLANS ON JUMPING ON ANY ARTIFACTS OR DESTROY ANYTHING! I'M READING THE FOOCKING INFORMATION!

As I had read the information I know this is #3 Remains of Wellman's gondola

As I had read the information I know this is #2 Supports for guy rope

Dutch graves from the 17th century

Hydrogen apparatus, work shops and fuel depot

Hydrogen apparatus, work shops and fuel depot

Remains of Wellman's hangar

We see an Arctic Fox

Iron pallets to make hydrogen

The only thing missing here is Andrèe's balloon and it would be the same picture taken on the 11th of July 1897, almost exactly 108 years ago when they launched the balloon to never be seen again

"The Eagle" leaves Virgohamna on Svalbard 11. July 1897. The trailing ropes can bees seen draging in the water. They were not to be seen alive again. Copyright: Grennamuseet

Poster by Sture Johannesson - Andree will take a trip - Underground Lunds konsthall 1969
Click HERE for a bigger picture of this amazing poster

Leaving Virgohamna behind

The strait between Virgohamna and Smeeringburg

We got news via the radio that they had spotted 2 female Polar Bears and a baby Polar Bear on the other side of the Smeeringburgfjord. So we were in a little bit of a hurry to leave Virgohamna. They asked if anyone wanted to return to the ship before we went to see the Polar Bears.

Only one of us wanted to return to the boat and it was the Doctor. It was a 10 to 15 minutes ride to the Polar Bears and it was against the wind. And it was not warm and nice, but a Polar Bear baby is what we're missing. Yeah, this turned out to be yet another fantastic day on Svalbard, well, except for the map/ info debacle on Virgohamna.

When we arrive to the Polar bears we discover yet another beautiful glacier in Smeeringburgfjorden

When we arrive to the Polar bears we discover yet another beautiful glacier in Smeeringburgfjorden

One Polar Bear eating on the dead whale and the baby and the mother is up on the snow

One Polar Bear eating on the dead whale and the baby and the mother is up on the snow

The birds are feeding from the dead whale

The birds are feeding from the dead whale

The female leaves with her baby when the other female comes back up from the whale

The other female is full after the feast and lay down to sleep

By now the baby and the mother is too far away

We were back on board 10 minutes before 7 and there was just time to check the pictures before it was time for dinner. We see the collar the Polar Bear is wearing. This is how we know it is a female. The males cannot have the collars as their neck and head is like one long neck and the collar comes off. So the males have a tracker in the ear instead.

This day could not end any better, Walruses, close by and a Polar Bear baby, just what I have missed. Well, except for the Blue whale, but as mentioned before, I have never had any hopes to see a blue whale. Tomorrow is the last day and we will visit Ny-Ålesund in the morning before going back to Longyearbyen.

Ny-Ålesund promise to be exciting, NOT! It is the northern most village in the world with a population living around the year. Yeah, can't wait to get there.

Anyway, you just need to click HERE to find yourself in the middle of Ny-Ålesund


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