2023 Introduction to Spitsbergen

Possible Excursions

When traveling in extremely remote regions, your Expedition Team must consider the sea, ice and weather to guide the route and itinerary details. The following sites are a sample of what you may experience on your expedition, whether by ship, Zodiac cruise, or shore landing. Spitsbergen ALKEFJELLET This cliff is a seabird colony, where Brünnich’s guillemots (thick-billed murres) raise their young. An estimated 60,000 breeding pairs reside on the basalt cliffs. The birds do not build nests; rather, they lay eggs on the bare ledges of the cliff. Witness the spectacle of thousands of birds flying to and from their cliff edge, speckling the sky and water, like a beehive on a much grander scale. LILLIEHÖÖK GLACIER In 2005, nearly 100 years after his great- great-grandfather conducted scientific

investigations here, Prince Albert II of Monaco returned to Lilliehöök Glacier to honor his ancestor’s memory. Here, you can take a Zodiac cruise amid labyrinths of sparkling icebergs, and witness breathtaking panoramas of ice. You may even spot bearded seals hauled out on the floes. LONGYEARBYEN Home to 2,400 people, the administrative capital of Svalbard is situated on the southern side of Adventfjorden. The settlement was founded in 1905 by John Munroe Longyear, the majority owner of the Arctic Coal Company of Boston. Today as much as ever, this is a true frontier town. MONACO GLACIER Prince Albert I of Monaco, a pioneer of oceanography, led an expedition to Svalbard in 1906. His team used sophisticated photographic techniques to understand the shape and position of

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