Category: Polar regions

Sneaking up on Musk Ox

Believe it or not, it is possible for 50 people to sneak up on a Musk Ox – we proved it!

On our Arctic expedition, one of our landings provided us with the opportunity to take a guided walk on the shores of Svalbard. About 50 of us jumped at the chance to stretch our legs and explore the rugged mountain side. About 15 minutes into our walk the guide spotted a pair of Musk Ox high on the hillside. They were quite far away and we were all eager to get a little closer to obtain the prized photo of these hairy beasts. The guide set a few ground rules… not to step in front of him, to allow him to lead the pace and direction and the requirement for absolute silence.

It must have looked an incredibly odd sight to the folk watching us from the deck of the ship – 50 people huddled together into a small group and periodically crept up the mountainside. Crouching and hiding behind strategically placed boulders we, very slowly, progressed ever closer. Thankfully the Musk Ox seemed oblivious and started fighting between themselves – we stopped to observe this spectacle before continuing uphill on tip toe.

It took about 20 minutes to get ourselves into position and we then sat down to watch the show.

This post continues this week’s theme of the “The Arctic” here on the Taraji Blue website.

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The Birth of an Iceberg

A gothic ice formation resembles a waterfall both above and in the descent, in St Jonsfjorden, Svalbard.

This week on Taraji Blue our theme is “The Arctic” We’ll be sharing our favourite pictures and experiences. I’ll kick off with “The birth of an iceberg”…

This is how bergs are born. Huge pieces of ice are calved off the face of the moving glacier. Groaning almost with the effort, a sharp gunshot like crack signals that the glacier is about to split. In a split second you could miss it. Pieces of ice 100 feet high glide almost silently into the water, casting a wave across the otherwise calm waters of the Arctic fiords. Birds scatter to escape falling shards of ice and patiently wait for the phenomenon to end. In time they will return to perch on the sides of the glacier  – a brave few will even choose to ride on the crest of the new iceberg as it wobbles its way across the water. It does not take long for calm to return.

If you like this picture, please feel free to share using the social media links provided below.

For more photos, please visit the Taraji Blue photo gallery.

You can also show your support for Taraji Blue by liking us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tarajiblue following us on twitter https://twitter.com/TarajiBlue and connecting with Alistair and myself on Google+

Frozen Ballet, tickets sold out for 2012… try again in 2013

Trees stand fixed in position as the full moon rises above the frozen landscapes around Pulju, Lapland.

OK, typical New Year new promises but there were good (hmm… justifiable rather than good) reasons for absence in gazing around and contributing.  So, onto a better plane.

Trees stand fixed in position as the full moon rises above the frozen landscapes around Pulju, Lapland.  Pulju is in the Arctic Circle at around 68 degrees north, so for the week between Christmas and New Year we didn’t see the sun rise – sunrise and sunset blended into one, providing a little light but quite tough conditions for photography, particularly macro or anything up close.

This shot is taken in the light of the full moon. It’s 30 seconds at f/10 and ISO 800, then boosted by a stop to bring out the light.  Still, the moon rained down an incredible amount of light – f/10 is a funny aperture to be using in the dark for long exposure – and what I will always remember is those long shadows haunting through the woods, particularly when you face the moon directly and see the shadows spread away around you.  Quite beautiful, quite silent, quite cold (only ~ -20 degrees C at this point I think) and literally 2.3m from our doorstep.  Bliss.

Further images from Lapland are available in the Taraji Blue Finland Gallery. 

Close Encounters That Make You Feel Insignificant

Greenland’s icebergs are immense. Up to 200 feet in height, and numerous in volume. I took to the fjord in in a zodiac eager to explore further. Here I stumbled across this ice monument and was immediately enraptured by its texture, contrast and intense colour. I waited until the clouds framed the iceberg in an ethereal way and took the opportunity to capture my favourite imageNotes: Handheld on an zodiac cruise

Greenland is guaranteed to maximise any inferiority complex you might have – and if you don’t have one, it’ll nurture one. It is, without a doubt, one of the most incredible and gigantic places on earth.

200ft icebergs towering over you in every direction are bound to have a powerful effect on you. Balancing on a small inflatable zodiac you bob in-between them as they groan and roll, casting waves that threaten to topple you into the icy waters.   Here we stumbled across this ice monument and were immediately enraptured by its texture, contrast and intense colour. We waited until the clouds framed the iceberg in an ethereal way and took the opportunity to capture my favourite image.

Curtains of green aurora borealis twist over the icebergs and mountains of Rypefjord, Greenland

At night the sky comes alive with the dancing lights of the Aurora Borealis. The silence is incredible – the movements and patterns disturb no-one and make no noise.  It’s just you and nature’s greatest display. As I lay on the deck of the ship in my pyjamas in the dead of the night the lights danced around me. At one point the aurora created an incredible chandelier which seemingly danced fingers of light right onto the surface of the water. I held my fingers up, wiggling them as if I could touch and tickle the light. I looked around me and fellow passengers were doing likewise. The silence would be broken only by the sounds of giggles and gasps as the display grew in intensity. I shed a tear or two – it was overwhelming. Surely this was a dream?

Further photos of the Aurora Borealis are available in the Taraji Blue Arctic photo gallery. 

This Is Why I Love The Ocean…

A spectacular Arctic sunset illuminates the cloud layers above.

I never thought I’d be a sea-going wench. I thought myself more of a landlubber who would never get used to the pitch and roll of the ocean – especially given my tendency for land-sickness in the early days of our travels.  Truth be told, on our first major sea adventure to Antarctica I was scared stiff – half excited and half scared witless – I had tears in my eyes when boarding the ship.

However I quickly fell in love with the ocean. The Drake passage was good to us and it fuelled my wanderlust for more time on open waters. Hence our trip to the Arctic years later.

I now love the serenity and silence of the ocean. The gentle pitch of the boat, the comforting roar of the ship engines, the sounds of waves lapping your cabin window…become accustomed and you are hooked! What’s more, a still ocean is an incredible vantage point to witness nature’s most specular sunrises and sunsets. The sun breaks through the clouds casting the entire horizon in the most vivid colours imaginable.  The ship’s deck offers a 360 degree viewpoint so you can watch the entire spectacle from start to end and capture photos like these (above and below).

Distance icebergs form a vaguely familiar shape on the horizon as we leave the southern part of Scoresby Sund, eastern Greenland

Additional photos from our Arctic sea-going voyage are available in our Taraji Blue Arctic photo gallery.