A journey to Svalbard or Spitsbergen Day 3 Part II

Ny-Alesund, the most northerly settlement on earth was a coalmine until 1962. Position app. 79'01"N / 11"01"E.
After a series of accidents the plant, owned by The King's Bay Coal Company, was forced to be closed. After closure the company reinvented the settlement as an internation research facility, supplying buildings and logistics to countries that want to conduct scientific research there.

Many countries have established facilities here, countries like Japan, the UK, France, China and many others.

We left the Maryshev some distance from shore and took the zodiacs to the towns small wharf. It was interesting to see that there were quite a few smaller sailing ships around. Some from adventurer and some from researchers.

After a little walk around , spotting varies of birds, some reindeer and even some young Arctic Fox pups (born under one of the houses) some of us took the oppurtunity to visit the older buildings, the museum and the souvenir shop. The main attraction is to send postcards form the most northern post office in the world, you can also get a stamp in your passport!

One of the most famous stories of this area is about the great Norwegian polar explorer Roald Admundsen. In 1926 an expedition led by Admundsen departed from this place using airships, also known as zeppelins. Admundsen flew from here across the North Pole to Teller, Alaska. Then in 1928 Admundsen's companion Nobile led another expedition with the airship Italia. It turned out into a disaster, leading to the first international air-sea rescue operation in the Polar regions. Admundsen started out from Tromso with a plne to resque Nobile but he crashed somewehe in the Barents Sea never to be found again.

$_1 sval.jpg

this picture I found on the internet

Late in the afternoon we returned to our ship, preparing for dinner and an evening spend on deck watching the majestic Kongsbreen glacier. We spotted some birdlife, a Mink Whale and a possible Fin Whale.