North Pole Cruise – BD1001

Planned Landings:

Helsinki, Murmansk, North Pole, Apollonov Island, Bell Island, Hooker Island, Cambridge Strait, Rudolf Island, Northbrook Island, Wilczek Island, Jackson Island, Champ Island, Negri Fjord, Hooker Island, Rudolf Island, Murmansk, Helsinki

NORTH POLE

Visitors to the North Pole usually number in the mere hundreds each year. Soak up the icy surroundings knowing that even polar bears and harp seals are rare visitors to this extremity of the Earth.

FRANZ JOSEF LAND

Apollonov Island

This small island has a ridge that may provide a vantage point for viewing a walrus rookery, which is known to haul-out on the island. Zodiac cruising to watch walrus from a distance is also a possibility.

Bell Island

In 1881, Benjamin Leigh-Smith’s expedition built a hut here, but the crew never had the opportunity to use it, as their ship was wrecked off the coast. The hut is in supreme condition and has a number of interesting inscriptions on its interior walls. Also found here is an old Russian Isba (a wooden hut), which may even predate the official 1873 discovery of Franz Josef Land.

Calm Bay, Hooker Island

Sporadically in use today, this is the site of the archipelago’s first-ever polar station, built in 1929. Memorials to Georgiy Sedov’s wintering in 1913–14 are built here, and the remains of a glaciologist’s hut can also be seen.

Cambridge Strait

Cambridge Strait is a well-known area for polar bears as they hunt for seals that frequent the area.

Cape Fligely, Rudolf Island

The most northern point of the archipelago is marked with a copper plaque and a memorial cross. This is also the northernmost part of Europe, reaching farther north than Spitsbergen. The island is almost entirely ice covered, and temperatures only rise above freezing for a few shorts’ weeks each summer.

Cape Flora, Northbrook Island

More than half a dozen expeditions passed through here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries—the Jackson-Harmsworth expedition described in the book A Thousand Days in the Arctic was among them. Many buildings from the time are in ruins or have fallen into the sea, but some remain. Memorials and crosses have been erected recently in memory of the survivors and victims of those early expeditions.

Cape Heller, Wilczek Island

Historically significant markers can be found here, including the remains of a stone hut used by two men from the 1898–99 Walter Wellman expedition. There is a gravesite and large memorial post in honor of the one member who died here just after New Year’s in 1899.

Cape Norway, Jackson Island

Weather is always a factor in this northern part of the archipelago, which is sometimes unreachable, even for icebreakers. A variety of arctic flora is found in this area, making it particularly interesting for botanists. This is also where Fridtjof Nansen and Frederick Jackson stayed over winter 1895–96, and the remains of their stone hut can be visited.

Cape Tegetthoff, Hall Island

Impressive tall cliffs are home to large numbers of seabirds, while the ruins of the Walter Wellman 1898–99 expedition can also be found. With a diverse landscape, the island is great for exploring on foot, provided that polar bears aren’t in the vicinity.

Champ Island

Wildflowers of the tundra are a common sight, giving a bit of color to an often bleak landscape. Of particular interest are the mysteriously perfectly rounded rocks scattered around parts of the island. They are up to seven feet (two meters) in diameter and have been nicknamed Devil’s Marbles.

Negri Fjord

This is a scenic and narrow waterway that lies between Mcclintock Island and Hall Island toward the southern reaches of Franz Josef Land.

Rubini Rock, Hooker Island

Rubini Rock is considered by many to be home to the most impressive bird cliffs anywhere in Franz Josef Land. The cliffs feature a bounty of seabirds, and because of deep waters, ships are able to get up close to the edge of the cliffs for great views. Most of the shores are dominated by glacier fronts, while a large part of the island is ice covered.

Teplitz Bay, Rudolf Island

With a long history of arctic exploration, this bay was first explored during Julius Payer’s 1874 expedition. Once a base for long-distance Arctic flights, the bay is also home to an abandoned polar station. Ships have sunk in these icy waters; a wrecked aircraft lies on the ice cap, and monuments and graves pay homage to the early explorers who died here. For wildlife, both narwhal and beluga whales have been seen in these waters.