Day 8 - 19th June 2026 - Svalbard - Spitzbergen & the pack ice with Bird's Wildlife & Nature

Sleep came easy the night before and by 0630 we were coming into moor at the coal quay in Longyearbyen.  Brunnich’s and Black Guillemots paddled around and the Eider were checked for Kings but with no joy.

It was snowing quite hard as the Ortelius moored up

All too soon we were leaving the Ortelius for the last time and bidding farewell to the crew and expedition team who had looked after us so well.  It seemed odd to be back on dry land for longer than a few hours as we were taken back into the town to await our coach back to the airport just a short 90 minutes later.

The ultimate nod to Longyearbyen's mining history...

Lex managed to capture some of our team and almost all of the Ortelius expedition team as we left.  We were waving from our coach!

But there was one last treat in store.  As we got off the coach we were told to look off shore where a large pod of milky white Belugas were following the coast up into the fjord.  I reckoned about 40 or so but someone had been doing a proper official count and had got to 52. Jim and Jacqui had missed the ones the previous day so this was more than ample recompense.

Belugas - so much better than it looks! - Jim Willett

Belugas - Jim Willett

Our journey home from here via a night in Oslo went via Tromso about which we shall not talk but by mid-morning the following day we were back at Heathrow and on the final leg home.

Trips are often about managing expectations – nothing is guaranteed in nature but this one exceeded any notional hopes and aspirations for the adventure from the outset.  We had travelled so far north as to be the most northerly humans on the planet, seen a ridiculous 12 Hollandaise Polar Bears, heard the breath of Blue Whales, found six different Pinnipeds from dinky Ringed Seals to whopping great blubbery Walruses, watched Arctic Foxes bounding through the snow, heard the chittering of swarms of cliff top Little Auks, seen the sunlight refracting through arching fogbows, had ghostly Ivory Gulls drift overhead, listened to glaciers shifting and calving baby icebergs, watched Black Guillemots in a dizzy circular Maypole dance and ended with a herd of placid mini Moby Dicks.

If you have not been before, go before it is too late. You will not be disappointed.