Well folks, today, 36 days after our arrival in Hornsund Fjord, is the last day of our stay on Spitsbergen. We leave for the airport in fifteen minutes. Even though it is 3:30 am now, this is my very last chance to post from Svalbard, so how can I pass that up? Here are some of my favorite yet-unpublished photos from the past 5 weeks.
The shoreline of Hornsund just outside the Polish Polar Station.
A dead marine plant that washed up on shore and took a dramatic pose.
Some rusty metal that washed up on shore.
A close-up of the majestic glacier we see every day from the colony.
Mystic auks.
View from the front porch of the Polish Station.
Fugleberget, the tall mountain we see every day from the colony, at its most glorious.
One day, a Norwegian Helicopter came by to switch out some fuel canisters from the stockpile. This is a strategic fueling point along a long-distance helicopter route.
In the Polish Station, the cook dishes up some beigos, my very favorite Polish food. It is unclear what is animal, what is vegetable, and what is mineral in this delicacy, but that is irrelevant; it is the tastiest thing I have eaten north of Arctic Circle.
Now for a recognition of some of the small things in life on the tundra:
Orange lichen
Yellow lichen
Moss
More moss
The local species of willow. This is as big as it gets!
Pink flowers.
More pink flowers.
Yellow flowers.
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And, last but not least, a recognition of our favorite species of all:
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It has been an excellent field season! Thanks for reading.