North Atlantic Cruise

Categories Svalbard Spitsbergen Small Ship Cruises North Atlantic Islands Faroe Islands Cruises

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The June 8, 2013 departure is aboard the Ortelius.

It is possible to start this trip two days earlier by departing from Hansweert, Netherlands. Please inquire.

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands are situated about 350 kilometres to the north of Scotland. The archipelago consists of 18 islands and the topography is mainly hilly with its highest point being 882 metres above sea level. The coastline is mostly bordered by cliffs that are often adorned by huge seabird colonies. The Faroe Islands are peppered with fishing villages and have a rich Norse Heritage.

Jan Mayen

Jan Mayen is a 55 kilometres long island set in the North Atlantic Ocean, half-way between Iceland and Spitsbergen. Its geologic origin is volcanic, being on a hotspot of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The still active volcano, Beerenberg (2200 metres, 7218 feet), dominates the island.

The island is named for Jan Jacobsz May, a Dutch whaler who landed here in 1614 (though the island had been seen before) and was a major whaling centre for both Dutch and English whalers. In the years that followed his visit, several summer settlements were established. Seven Dutchmen who tried to over winter in 1633-34 all died because of scurvy. When whaling ceased, the difficulties of access and the poor climate limited human activities on the island.

The first impression the visitor gets of the island is one of a rough, inhospitable landscape, studded with snowfields, the sides of Beerenberg swept by glaciers separated by steep, rocky faces.

Norway established a weather station on the island in 1921. Since 1930 Jan Mayen is part of Norway.

Itinerary

We board our ship in Aberdeen, famed as the Granite City and many times a winner of the Britain in Bloom competition, and embark on our trip. The lighthouse on Girdle Ness, to the south as the North Sea is reached, was designed by the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson.

The Scottish waters offer excellent possibilities to spot Minke Whales, White-beaked Dolphins and Harbour Porpoises. Several other cetaceans, including Orcas (Killer Whales), are also native to these waters.

At Fair Isle, in the Shetlands, we are welcomed by the 70 or so inhabitants (famed for their knitwear, examples of which we will see) to be followed by a walk to the bird observatory. Later, on Mousa, one of the smaller Shetland Islands, we visit one of the best preserved brochs in Scotland. Brochs are circular stone towers probably built by the Picts. During a night excursion we will watch thousands of Storm Petrel return to their burrows or crevices.

By day we view Grey Seal, Black Guillemot, Red-throated Diver, Arctic Skua and a wonderful spring flora.

We sail north to the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen, situated 300 nautical miles north-east of Iceland. During our two days at sea there will be plenty of time to watch for the blow of a Minke, Fin or Blue Whale, which could herald a rewarding encounter with these gentle giants. Perhaps we might run into a pod of Orca, who can often be quite curious about boats such as ours.

Jan Mayen is a volcanic island of breathtaking beauty and mystique, dominated by Mt Beerenberg. From the slopes of the 2300m volcano, impressive glaciers spill into the sea. Until recently, the island was off-limits as it is a military base, and was rarely visited by tourists, but with permission from the Norwegian authorities we hope to visit the weather station. We will also walk across the island to Kvalrossbukta to look at the remains of a 17th century Dutch whaling station and a substantial colony of Fulmar. We also plan to sail by Koksletta where thousands of Little Auk and Brünnich's Guillemot breed close to a glacier, watched over by Glaucous Gull.

In the midnight sun, we sail north along the edge of the sea-ice, looking out for different species of whales, dolphins, seals and a variety of seabirds, until the sea-ice stops us, then we will sail to North Spitsbergen.

Depending on the position of the sea-ice, we sail into Raudfjord or one of the other fjords in Northwest Spitsbergen, where we have chances of seeing Polar Bear at the heads of the fjords, and where seals are sunbathing on the fjord ice. At Fuglesangen we have an opportunity to see thousands of Little Auk on their breeding grounds.

Fuglehuken, the northern tip of Prince Karls Forland is probably the place where Willem Barentsz made the first landing in Spitsbergen. It is an area with beautiful seabird colonies and many remains of the Polar Bear hunting period of a century ago. Later we will look for Walrus at Sarstangen, Engelskmansbukta or Poole-Pynten. In the evening we could land at Alkhornet another seabird colony, where at the slopes we can find reindeer and Arctic Fox.

We disembark in Longyearbyen, the administrative centre of Spitsbergen, for flights south to Oslo and onward home.