Iceland, Jan Mayen
and South Spitsbergen
Keflavik to Longyearbyen
Aboard Professor Multanovskiy
From Keflavik we sail to the Northwest of Iceland, where we go ashore to explore deserted fjords. Once farmed, they are now the realm of the Arctic fox and the thousands of seabirds breeding on Iceland's highest bird cliffs. From Grimsey on the Arctic Circle, we sail to the rim of the East Greenland Ice. We land on Jan Mayen, a volcanic island of great beauty, which is home to abundant Little Auks and Brunnich's guillemots. Jan Mayen also has a fascinating history of 17th century whaling. Now heading for Bear Island, we should be lucky enough to spot the blow of large whales on the horizon. On windswept Bear Island we visit the bird cliffs, before sailing along the sea ice, past thousands of moulting Harp seals, to Hornsund in the south of Spitsbergen. It's steep mountains teem with little Auks, while polar bears often gather in the inner fjord regions. In Bellsund we see the remains of the 17th century British whaling stations.
