Svalbard Part 20

Svalbard Part 20

14 July - 31 July 2003:
This week has consisted mainly of hard work. We had to write a report with our work group about our project. We made very long days at the UNIS everyday. So no daily report but a summation of the highlights of these two weeks.

Reindeer Skull

Along with our regular course, Ruben and I had to do our own fieldwork too. So we went to the field everyday during or after the course. Once I had to go to Endalen for our own project because we forgot to estimate the cover percentages on this location. While there I found this beautiful overgrown reindeer skull. A lot of reindeer died in the winter of 2001-2002 due to a shortage of food. Because temperatures were fluctuating above and below zero, the snow melted and afterwards the water was frozen so there was an ice layer formed. The reindeer couldn't reach the underlying plants anymore so they couldn't get to the food.

Eriophorum scheuchzeri

Eriophorum scheuchzeri was in full flower in Adventalen. All those white fluffy flowers looked amazing together. Longyearbyen was also filled with this beautiful flower.

Eriophorum scheuchzeri

Saxifraga hieraciofolia

Another flowering plant was the Saxifraga hieraciofoli. This is the biggest Saxifraga species on Svalbard. Below is a picture of a very large Oxyria digyna, this one was so big because it was growing on a sheltered place on the side of the road. Oxyria digyna is a very common plant on Svalbard.

Oxyria digyna

On the 30th of July we were working at the computer lab at the UNIS. All we wanted to do was finish up and go home when someone came to tell us that there were Beluga Whales in the fjord. So we hurried to our bikes and cycled to the beach. And indeed there were several swimming in the fjord! It was hard to tell how many there were of them since they took turns surfacing to breathe. We could see at least 5 at one time, though. Beluga Whales are large white whales that can grow up to 16 feet in length! The picture is not the greatest because of the poor weather and the fact that I forgot my lens. Still I put the picture on the website so everybody can see the white back of a Beluga Whale.