Birds,  Coast & seascapes,  Svalbard

Arctic diary three: Fjortende Julibukta, Krossfjorden and Camp Zoe

September 3, 2025 / 57 Comments

The North is the only place where nature can still claim to rule, the only place as yet but little vexed by man. All over the globe there spread noisy features; the North is silent and at peace.

Stephen Leacock, quoted in the Ocean Explorer’s daily programme

We were to experience that sense of peace on every day of this trip, the silence often only broken by the noise of the kittiwakes and other birds. Surprisingly today we were also to experience warm sunshine; not something I expected to find in Svalbard.

This is the next instalment of my day by day account of the places we visited and sights we saw on our expedition cruise on Quark’s Ocean Explorer, and describes our second full day at sea. If you missed the first you can catch up here.

Fjortende Julibukta

Overnight the ship had sailed out of St. Jonsfjorden, up the west coast of Prins Karls Forland, and into Fjortende Julibukta (14th of July Bay) in Krossfjorden.

According to the daily programme:

Fjortende Julibukta is named after the French national day. Steep mountains overlooking the bay provide an ideal habitat for thousands of kittiwakes, their calling creating an incessant hum in the background. Breeding Brünnich’s guillemots line the cliffs rising out from the water. The guano-enriched tundra at the base of the kittiwake colony provides rich vegetation for reindeer and geese.

It may seem odd that a bay in Norwegian Svalbard is named after a holiday celebrated in France. We learned that it was named by Prince Albert I of Monaco during his oceanographic expeditions to Svalbard between 1898 and 1907.

We woke to fantastic weather and views from our balcony which demanded to be photographed!

From the chart displayed in the ship’s lounge

Fjortende Julibukta from our balcony

After breakfast we had a fantastic outing with expedition guide Bertie. We toured the bay, mainly at the base of sea cliffs where various birds were nesting. The main species there were Atlantic puffins, Brünnich’s guillemots (also known as thick-billed murres) and kittiwakes, but we also saw a common eider and chick in the water, some common guillemots, quite a few glaucous gulls (including a few young ones) and common guillemots. At one point a harbour seal swam past, and we saw three reindeer high up on the scree, but most of the time we were watching and photographing the birds. Of course the puffins stole the show!

  • Atlantic puffins
  • Atlantic puffin
  • Atlantic puffins
  • Kittiwake
  • Brünnich’s guillemots
  • Common guillemots
Now spot the reindeer!

Towards the end of our time on the water Bertie steered us towards the glacier. It looked beautiful in the sunshine, as did the bergy bits in the surrounding water. We saw it calve once and heard the boom. Some kittiwakes had settled on an iceberg so we spent some time photographing them. But all too soon it was time to return to the ship.

  • Fjortende Julibukta
  • Glacier calving, Fjortende Julibukta
  • Kittiwakes
  • Kittiwakes

Tinayrebreen

Later, just as we were finishing lunch, Ryan announced on the PA that we’d navigated to the end of Krossfjorden where there were great views of a glacier, Tinayrebreen, and waterfalls. We hurried up to the observation deck with our cameras of course and I managed to get some shots of the falls and the glacier ice. We’d not brought jackets out with us but the sun was so warm, we didn’t miss them!

Tinayrebreen
  • Tinayrebreen
  • Waterfall down the glacier front
  • Waterfall down the glacier front
  • Tinayrebreen

Camp Zoe

After lunch we had our first shore excursion. These were graded according to difficulty and also preferred exploration style. We chose the slower paced Contemplative group which proved perfect for my walking style and our shared wish to get plenty of photos. Keen hikers could opt to be in the Chargers group, and there were also Medium Fast and Medium options.

Landing area

We landed close to a hut known as Camp Zoe which was once used by a British gold prospector, Ernest Mansfield, who named it for his daughter. After a polar bear safety briefing our group climbed a ridge, stopping to look at some plants in the tundra including polar willow (all of half a centimetre tall!) and drooping saxifrage.

  • Polar willow
  • Drooping saxifrage
  • Another saxifrage (not sure which!)

Part way up we stopped and our guide Ian talked about the landscape of this part of Svalbard and the history of the island. Once a ‘terra nullius’ belonging to no country, it was granted to Norway after WW1 as none of the major powers wanted their rivals to get it.

We carried on up the ridge, spotting an eider duck with three ducklings in the water below. The weather was really warm and I realised I should have worn a thinner jumper as I got quite hot on our walk, which as I mentioned was not something I expected to say on this trip!

  • Tinayrebukta from Camp Zoe
  • Eider duck and ducklings
  • Ocean Explorer moored in Tinayrebukta, from Camp Zoe

We then descended to the hut where we had a chance for some photos inside.

  • Hut at Camp Zoe
  • Hut at Camp Zoe
  • Hut at Camp Zoe

Briefings and glaciers

Back on board, there were some interesting talks about puffins from the ornithologist Nigel and about glaciers from expert geologist and glaciologist Mike. Ian also told us more about the prospector Ernest Mansfield, who was the leader of the Northern Exploration Company Ltd. He founded the town of Ny-London with a plan to extract marble, but it was later discovered that Svalbard marble fractured and crumbled when it reached warmer climates. In various other parts of the archipelago he prospected for asbestos, for gold, for coal, for iron. He was something of a dreamer, as perhaps all prospectors need to be, but never a great success.

We saw some fantastic photos and video footage of a couple of puffins fighting in the water, shot by onboard photographer Kris. I have his permission to include here any of the photos he shared with us after the trip.

Fighting puffins, @kristopherandres
Fighting puffins, @kristopherandres

Ryan told us a bit about the plans for tomorrow, then mentioned that we might want to take a look outside before dinner as we’d entered another area of the fjord, Lillehookfjorden, with beautiful glacier views in front of the ship. So we took our cameras up to the observation deck and were there for some time taking photos of the stunning scene.

  • Lillehookfjorden
  • Lillehookfjorden
  • Lillehookfjorden
  • Lillehookfjorden
  • Lillehookfjorden
  • Lillehookfjorden

There was even a bearded seal on one of the small icebergs in the bay. See if you can spot him in the righthand photo below!

Later, after another excellent dinner and just before going to bed, I again captured the scene from our balcony. The end of another wonderful day in Svalbard.

Lillehookfjorden late evening from balcony

I visited Svalbard in August 2025; this is an account of our adventures on Wednesday, August 6th

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