Spitsbergen, Svalbard

The first week of April 2017, the Dutch sailing ship Noorderlicht made her first arctic winter voyage along the west coast of the island Spitsbergen, Svalbard. A unique event for the Noorderlicht and her brand new crew, since the ship and its crew had never embarked on an expedition at Svalbard that early in the season. Under the command of Captain Floris de Waard and expedition leader Sarah Gerats, we sailed north via Ymerbukta through Forlandsundet to the Krossfjorden and Kongsfjorden.

The period from mid-March to mid-May could be called ‘light winter’ in Spitsbergen and Svalbard: although complete darkness has now given way to daylight, the landscape is still covered in a blanket of snow and ice. At every landing, we were the first of the expedition season to leave footprints in the snow. It was still a bit early in the season for wildlife and the snow made it considerably more difficult to spot animals like the arctic fox and polar bear. Still, we were treated to some seals and walruses and at Alkhortnet we witnessed one of the great migrations of Svalbard: the arrival of the guillemots.

These photographs show the harsh landscapes of West Spitsbergen in Svalbard in the light arctic winter. During the sailing trip the following locations were visited: Ymerbukta, Forlandsundet, Fjortende Julibukta, Signehamna, Lilliehookbreen, Blomstrandhalvøya (Kongsfjorden), Store Jonsfjorden, Trygghamna, Alkhornet and Longyearbyen.