Northbound – The Barents Sea
Having left mainland Norway in our wake, today was spent cruising a wonderfully calm Barents Sea on our way towards Bjornoya - Bear Island. It was this sea’s namesake, Dutch explorer William Barents, who first discovered Bjornoya in 1596.
National Geographic Endeavour took a meandering course north, deliberately plotted to follow the edge of the continental shelf, where the ocean depths rapidly decrease from 3,500 feet, to less than 1,000. These undersea cliffs and canyons are highly productive areas due to the upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich waters from the deep ocean to the comparatively shallow banks of the continental shelf seas. The abundance of food attracts all kinds of marine life to the shelf break, including marine mammals, which is what we were on the look out for.
A day to relax on board, catching up with reading, photo-editing, or journals, was appreciated by all. While not out on deck scouring the horizon with our binoculars, looking for telltale blows, we learnt more about the region as our series of on-board presentations continued.
The careful routing and sharp watch paid off before long though, as a blow was spotted and the call went out over the P.A. system – “whale dead ahead!” Rapidly gathering cameras and binoculars, we assembled on the bow as the captain manoeuvred the ship slowly toward the whale. Soon identified as a humpback, this individual was being accompanied by several white-sided dolphins, and put on a tremendous show for us. We could clearly see its characteristic humpy dorsal fin, and long white pectoral flippers, which can reach nearly a third of the body length. Seeming undisturbed by our presence, the whale playfully slapped the water with its tail and rolled on its side just in front of the ship.
We enjoyed this humpback whale’s company for some time, before continuing along the shelf break, towards more undersea canyons and more whales - this time the world’s largest predator – the sperm whale.
Having left mainland Norway in our wake, today was spent cruising a wonderfully calm Barents Sea on our way towards Bjornoya - Bear Island. It was this sea’s namesake, Dutch explorer William Barents, who first discovered Bjornoya in 1596.
National Geographic Endeavour took a meandering course north, deliberately plotted to follow the edge of the continental shelf, where the ocean depths rapidly decrease from 3,500 feet, to less than 1,000. These undersea cliffs and canyons are highly productive areas due to the upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich waters from the deep ocean to the comparatively shallow banks of the continental shelf seas. The abundance of food attracts all kinds of marine life to the shelf break, including marine mammals, which is what we were on the look out for.
A day to relax on board, catching up with reading, photo-editing, or journals, was appreciated by all. While not out on deck scouring the horizon with our binoculars, looking for telltale blows, we learnt more about the region as our series of on-board presentations continued.
The careful routing and sharp watch paid off before long though, as a blow was spotted and the call went out over the P.A. system – “whale dead ahead!” Rapidly gathering cameras and binoculars, we assembled on the bow as the captain manoeuvred the ship slowly toward the whale. Soon identified as a humpback, this individual was being accompanied by several white-sided dolphins, and put on a tremendous show for us. We could clearly see its characteristic humpy dorsal fin, and long white pectoral flippers, which can reach nearly a third of the body length. Seeming undisturbed by our presence, the whale playfully slapped the water with its tail and rolled on its side just in front of the ship.
We enjoyed this humpback whale’s company for some time, before continuing along the shelf break, towards more undersea canyons and more whales - this time the world’s largest predator – the sperm whale.
