12/14/2023 0 Comments Franz joseph land![]() ![]() On this day in Geographer Bay, a bear was wandering on the fast ice in the back of the bay. More Polar Bear Sightings at Geographer BayĪs many of you know, patience is a virtue when it comes to watching wildlife. Mom’s presence gave her cub the confidence to jump around on the ice, roll, sniff the air, and relax as we watched from the safety of our Zodiacs. To a polar bear cub, Mom is everything: provider, teacher, playmate, protector. If they have selected well and if they are lucky, a seal meal will follow. Once they find a hole that strikes their fancy, they settle down and wait-often for hours-in hopes a seal will emerge from the water to take a breath. They wander the vast icy surface in search of breathing holes for seals, usually ringed seals. In Franz Josef Land, wherever you find fast ice, you will find polar bears. Expedition team member, Ingrid Nixon, reports here on some of her favorite moments from the journey. In July 2018, Apex travelers explored the Arctic’s Franz Josef Land, a vast frozen archipelago alive with wildlife and offering some of the best Polar Bear sightings - along with Walrus and whale viewing - on Earth. © Page Chichester Franz Josef Land Photo Gallery and Journal ![]() Russian authorities began to open up access to more foreign scientists and eventually historians and other visitors were allowed access to this seldom-visited area.Bowhead Whale en route to Svalbard. Starting in 1990, The Norwegian Polar Institute joined with Russian researchers in several joint summer projects in Franz Josef Land. By the early 1930’s Franz Josef Land was shut off from most of the outside world and, other than a brief occupation by a German weather station during World War II, the entire archipelago has been shrouded in obscurity throughout the Cold War. On ApRussia issued a decree claiming all lands north of the Russian mainland to the North Pole to be Soviet territory. Expeditions from Austria, Holland, Great Britain, USA, Italy, Russia, and Norway all came to this remote island archipelago, many of them utilizing the very landing at Cape Flora on Northbrook Island that Lindblad Expeditions used today. ![]() During the expedition the ship was finally locked in the ice, abandoned, and the crew was forced to drag their boats over the frozen sea to open water and eventually to rescue by Russian ships at Novaya Zemlya.įor the next half century Franz Josef Land was the site of many pioneering expeditions both to explore the area and as a launching place to try and reach the North Pole. While there may have been some Norwegian hunters to the islands slightly earlier, the official discovery of Franz Josef Land on Augis credited to the Austro-Hungarian expedition of Julius Payer and Carl Weyprecht on the Admiral Tegetthoff. In stark contrast to the 1596 official discovery by Willem Barents of the Svalbard Archipelago, Franz Josef Land lay in wait for discovery for almost three more centuries. Guests on the 148-passenger expedition ship spent five days exploring the exceedingly remote and rarely visited archipelago, visiting historic sites, with thrilling encounters with massive walrus and polar bears – one of the most exciting Arctic expeditions ever. Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic Explorer took part in making history this month when they landed at Franz Josef Land in the Russian Arctic, marking the first time a non-Russian expedition vessel called here since 1928. ![]()
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