In late July, Johanna King had the good fortune to visit the Norwegian islands of Svalbard, located at 78º - 80ºN, only a few hundred miles from the north pole. There she, along with 11 other passengers, cruised the northern part of the archipelago for a week and a half.  There was no darkness, so they observed from the ship, traveled out in zodiacs, and went ashore whenever wildlife was encountered, without reference to the clock.

The relative lack of avian diversity was more than made up for by numbers - at one location, there were close to 100,000 Brünnich’s Guillemots nesting in the cliffs. Also seen in very large numbers were Northern Fulmars, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Glaucous Gulls, and Arctic Terns.  Many species were nesting, and in especially beautiful plumage. Two very special sightings were Ivory Gulls and a Sabine’s Gull.
 
Many mammalian species were also seen, including walruses, several species of seals, Arctic foxes, Svalbard reindeer, and polar bears.

This polar habitat is disappearing fast with global warming, and the temperatures were moderate throughout the trip.  Glaciers were calving and retreating at an unprecedented rate, and roaring waterfalls were everywhere.  The good news is that the light was excellent for photography, and Johanna was able to capture these phenomena for us all to see. The bad news is that it may soon be impossible to capture these same images.

Port Townsend Community Center, Lawrence & Tyler
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