A journey to Svalbard or Spitsbergen Day 4 part I

Hello to you Steemians! This is not my first post but I will introduce myself now.

My name is Chris and I live in the Netherlands. I am totally into the quietness of nature. I have been on several places on this planet but my trip to Svalbard or Spitsbergen was the most beautifull of all! It was somewhat expensive but it was worth it.
The photographs are all mine except when mentioned otherwise.
I hope you enjoy these pictures.

After waking up just outside Danskoya and Amsterdamoya where the glaciers bathed in the Arctic sun we sailed towards the Smeerenburg Fjord. It was sunny with a slight breeze and app. 3 degrees celsius.

We had received information that polar bears had been spotted in this area the previous day. We watched the area thoroughly and we actually found some tracks. The bears were already gone but they left something behind.

The guides are all armed, just in case a polar bear comes to close. I asked them if there were ever any problems but they never had to act. But just in case they would start with warning shots. They have a lot of respects for the king of the Arctic.

We went on ti visit Blubber town, the largest and most famous former whale settlement on Svalbard. Smeereenburg was used from 1615 to 1655 by mainly Dutch whalers. The town was established by 7 companies and at it's peak over 200 men where working the blubber ovens during summer. Ovens with cauldrons were on the beach to cook the blubber.

The only signs left from this period are some remains of the blubber ovens and also some foundations of the houses that were used then. Not easy to see by the way. In western Europe there was a lot of demand for whale oil. The most hunted whale was the enourmous Bowhead Whale.

*this picture is from the internet

It made me feel kind of sick thinking about the mass slaughtering of these animals.

The Bowhead was easy to hunt becauase it was very slow and it will stay afloat when it is dead. Nowadays there is only a small percentage left but luckily their numbers are growing.

The rest of the morning we spend walking around, found some polar bear tracks (inluding cubs!) but nowhere to see. Even though it was sunny it was fairly cold. But what else can you expect in the Arctic! It was a beautifull morning with some mixed feelings. We went back to the ship for some food and refreshments.