Land of the Ice Bears: Expedition to Arctic Svalbard

This blog chronicles my expedition aboard the National Geographic Explorer to Arctic Svalbard. This opportunity was made possible through the Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program. The program is a partnership between National Geographic Education and Lindblad Expeditions. The program is named in honor of Gilber Grosvenor, Chairman Emeritus National Geographic Society and Education Foundation Board. The goal of the program is to advance geographic literacy by engaging K-12 educators in field-based experiences that will be reflected in their teaching practice and shared with their professional and community networks

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Habenichtbukta & Kapp Lee, Edgeøya June 24, 2014

Today we step ashore on Edgeoya. We were met by curious reindeer. I don't think Santa will seek the help of these stubby legged animals to help pull his sleigh.  These reindeer, a unique subspecies only found in Svalbard, are short-legged as the snow is not very deep.

We watched as the reindeer grazed on lichen, grass and plants to rebuild a layer of fat in order
to make it through the next winter.










Later during the day we were in awe of the walrus grave yard. They were on the verge to extinction in the Barents Sea region because of the over hunting.
In 1970 Norway solidified plans to make Svalbard become one of the best-managed wildlife areas in the world.
They created protected closed areas, nature reserves, and national parks.
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