Andy Davies is your photographic guide, both above and below water, on Aqua-firma's Arctic Diving, Wildlife & Marine Life voyage to North Spitsbergen. Andy's colleague on this is expedition is leader Kelvin Murray, a former British Antacrtic Survey dive officer.

This experience of a lifetime departs in mid June, a time of the Midnight Sun, when life is returning in force to the Arctic. Each year we have been spectacularly rewarded with incredible wildlife sightings with last year’s highlights including 13 polar bears, colonies of walruses, hundreds of thousands of birds and whales including blue, minke, humpback, fin and beluga.

Underwater exploration
Diving can be at its best in Spitsbergen early in the season, when all the ice has not yet been melted by the midsummer sun. Plankton levels are lower and visibility is usually better than later in the summer. There is plenty of ice around providing a wonderful landscape of dramatic glaciers, sea ice and the occasional snow fall.

With so little of the Arctic explored underwater, there is always an exploratory feel to diving so far north. For the experienced drysuit diver, this is a pioneering expedition providing the chance to dive where few have dived before. We aim to do at least two boat dives each day, when weather and ice conditions allow. Rather than cut a hole in the ice, we dive around the sea ice which is often in constant motion, cracking and growling around you.

Forests of kelp are also a feature of many sites, particularly on some of the more gentle fjord submarine slopes. Here, and in areas of rocky terrain, unique macro life can be found such as star fish, soft corals, colourful dahlia anemones and peacock worms. Plankton life is particularly fascinating with the sea angel (Clione limacine) and their swimming prey (Limacina helicina), a predatory sea snail found floating in the water column. You may also be able to observe a variety of Arctic fish, shrubby horse-tails, giant spider crabs, jellyfish and sea hedgehogs.

Seals are frequently observed on the ice and on shore and, if out of range beneath the water, you can still hear their 'seal songs' , a phenomenon not limited to whales! Where there are seals there are often polar bears predating them, a wonderful mammal who we always keep an eye out for. Walruses are similarly interesting, but a healthy respect and distance is needed as they can be aggressive and have in the past been adept at popping our zodiacs!

Above & Below Water Photography Workshops
Andy is a marine scientist and has been a professional photographer for over 20 years, specialising in wildlife and landscape photography both above and below the water. The writer of several books, Andy has also advised research and conservation bodies such as Marine Conservation Society and WWF on marine and coastal environmental management around the World.

Date & Prices 2012

A fuel surcharge of £16 / €18 per day will apply unless the price of Brent crude falls below US$80 90 days before the voyage.

Single supplement: Single occupancy price is 1.7 times the per person cabin price. There is no single supplement if you are prepared to share a cabin with another passenger of the same gender.

Our price includes
Accommodation and voyage
All meals, snacks, coffee and tea
All shore excursions and zodiac activities
Program of lectures by noted naturalists and leadership by experienced expedition staff
All miscellaneous services taxes and port charges throughout the programme
Comprehensive pre-departure material
Carbon offset for your voyage and flights if booked through us.

Our prices exclude
Flights
Pre and post land arrangements
Transfers to and from the vessel
Cancellation and personal insurance
Passports and visas
Arrival and departure tax
Meals ashore
Items of a personal nature (alcohol, laundry etc)
Tips

Itinerary

This is a sample only based upon an 8 day voyage. The final itinerary will be determined by the Expedition Team and is influenced by local conditions such as sea ice, wind and weather. The extent of sea ice is particularly unpredictable time in the early summer, which helps to make for an altogether more exploratory feel to a voyage.

Day 1
Arrive in Longyearbyen, the administrative capital of the Spitsbergen. Before embarking there is the opportunity to wander into and explore this former mining town. We suggest you use the opportunity to visit the Svalbard Museum, which has an interesting collection on the history of Spitsbergen, the mining industry and polar exploration. In the early evening the ship will sail out of Isfjorden.

Day 2
At Krossfjorden we take to the Zodiacs for an exhilarating cruise along the sculpted front of the 14th of July Glacier. Large numbers of kittiwakes and Brünnich's guillemots nest on the nearby cliffs. There is a good chance of spotting arctic foxes, who patrol the base of the cliffs in case a hapless chick falls from its nest and bearded seals, who cruise this scenic fjord. In the afternoon we sail to Ny Ålesund, the world's most northerly settlement. Once a mining village - served by the world's most northerly railway, which can still be seen - Ny Ålesund is now a research centre. Close to the village is a breeding ground for Barnacle Geese, Pink-footed Geese and Arctic Terns. Visitors interested in the history of Arctic exploration will want to walk to the anchoring mast used by Amundsen and Nobile in the airship Norge in 1926 and Nobile in the airship Italia in 1928 before their flights to the North Pole.

Day 3
Depending in the weather, we may sail to the mouth of Liefdefjorden, and go ashore for a walk on the tundra island of Andøya. A great number of common eiders and pink-footed geese nest here, the rarer king eider may also be seen. Sailing into Liefdefjorden, we will cruise close to the face of the impressive Monaco Glacier. The waters of the glacier front are a favoured feeding ground for thousands of kittiwakes and occasionally polar bears are spotted on the glacier, providing fantastic opportunities for photography.

Day 4
On and around the ice at the entrance to the Hinlopen Strait, there is a good chance of seeing Bearded and Ringed Seals, Polar Bears and Ivory Gulls. On the eastern side of Lomfjordshalvøya we take a Zodiac cruise through the ice floes to the bird cliffs of Alkefjellet, where thousands of Brünnich's Guillemots nest in a spectacular setting. The basalt pillars, rising hundreds of meters, and the overhanging ice cap with its waterfall are awe-inspiring sights. We hope to make an evening landing on the island of Nordaustlandet, the most northerly of the major Spitsbergen islands. Reindeer graze the sparse vegetation of this largely ice-covered island, where Pink-footed Geese, Walrus and a rare Ivory Gull colony are also found.

Day 5
Today we will reach our northernmost point at Phippsøya, in the Seven Islands north of Nordaustlandet. Here, at 81 degrees north and just 540 miles south of the geographic north pole, polar bears, ivory and Ross gulls inhabit this region. Several hours may be spent in this pack ice environment taking in the spectacular Arctic landscape and spotting wildlife before turning south again.

Day 6
Retracing our route westwards, we visit Raudfjord on the north coast of West Spitsbergen, a beautiful fjord dominated by spectacular glaciers and favoured by Ringed and Bearded Seals. The cliffs and shoreline of the fjord also support thriving seabird colonies and surprisingly rich vegetation which flourishes in sheltered spots. On the offshore island of Ytre Norskøya, we visit the large graveyard of a 17th century Dutch whaling site - a poignant reminder of the threats posed to the oceans' great marine mammals. The island's birdlife is prolific, with colonies of Little Auks, Black Guillemots, Brünnich's Guillemots, Puffins and Arctic Skuas accessible to visitors.

Day 7
We land at the northern tip of Prins Karls Forland near Fuglehuken, where Barentsz probably set foot on Spitbergen for the first time. Seabirds nest on the cliffs and along the coast we see the only population of Harbour Seals in Spitsbergen. Further on, we will also observe the remains of the Polar Bear hunting era, with demolished gun sets and bear traps - yet another reminder of the consequences of thoughtless exploitation. The opposite site of Forlandsundet at Sarstangen, is where walruses haul themselves out of the water onto land. Alternatively we sail into St. Johns Fjord or south to the mouth of Isfjorden and land at Alkhornet. Seabirds nest on its cliffs and Arctic Foxes search the cliff base for fallen eggs and chicks, while Spitsbergen Reindeer graze the relatively luxuriant vegetation. The reindeer are deceptively unpeturbed by human presence, but in fact, the animals must survive the harsh winter, when temperatures plummet and food is hard to find, so they preserve what energy they can, and flee only when absolutely necessary. In the afternoon we cruise through beautiful Borebukta, following a glacier front before continuing to Longyearbyen.

Day 8
Return to Longyearbyen and disembark for the transfer to the airport and the flight to Oslo then home.