When the Climate Pilgrimage is taking place the world will know the results of the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, the most important since the Kyoto Conference in 1997. An aim at this conference is to get an international agreement that is fitting the climate challenges ahead of us.
With this background, our expedition vessel MV Fram takes on a voyage with Climate as the theme aboard.

Together with partners from some of the most prominent scientific communities we will empower the participants on this voyage with up-to-date climate information. We will also make sure everyone aboard carries with them the knowledge how to observe basic indicators of climate change in a High Arctic environment. Our goal is to create ambassadors of the sublimely beautiful nature of Arctic Norway and Svalbard and the wildlife that in many ways are threatened by the drastic changes in climate. Our partners have in depth knowledge on the subject of Arctic climate change, they are:

Norwegian Polar Institute

Oslo Science Conference

Kongsberg Satellite Services

The University Centre of Svalbard

Tromsø – the Gateway to the Arctic.

Upon arrival in Tromsø we will invite all guests to the Polar Environmental Centre, where Centre for Ice, Climate and Ecosystems (ICE) and Norwegian Polar Institute are situated. 
Hurtigruten representatives and our scientific partners will arrange a welcome meeting with a light snack. After this meeting you will be transferred to the vessel, MV Fram where you are checking in and get served the welcome dinner.

Check out the venue here.

Tromsø – Scientific Programme and departure.

After breakfast aboard MV Fram you either stroll along the harbor side or embark the transfer to the Polar Environmental Centre (where we were yesterday afternoon). Here we will get deeper introductions from the Expedition Staff and Climate Scientists from Norwegian Polar Institute about the task at hand and the current status of research taking place in Svalbard and Norway. Right next to the Polar Environmental Centre the Polaria Visitor Centre will be open and you will also have the opportunity to visit the historic Polstjerna, a vessel used in the early days of scientific exploration and seal hunting in the Arctic Ocean. Lunch is included. Transfer back to MV Fram will depart from the Polar Environmental Centre at 14:30. Departure from Tromsø – heading north along the Lyngen Alps is 16:00.

Honningsvåg – North Cape and Gjesværstappan.

Honningsvåg is one of the northernmost places with city in the world, only Qaanaaq and Upernavik in Greenland and Barrow in Alaska is further north. This is also the startingpoint for our excursion taking us to the North Cape Platau – the famous cliff first acended by Fransesco Negri in 1864 and since then have served as the Ultima Thule icon of the world. After our excursion to the North Cape we will return to MV Fram have lunch while we re-position to Gjesværstappan, one of the most important bird cliffs off Norway mainland. Here Norwegian Polar Institute have performed research on sea birds and their role as climate indicators. We will get a thorough introduction to this while observing this teeming colony of puffins, gannets, fulmars, aucks, kittiwakes and guillemots.

The excursion to the North Cape Plateau is included in the program (no extra cost).

Bjørnøya (Bear Island).

This isolated island is the southernmost island of the Svalbard Archipelago and has been named “the largest concentration of sea birds on the Northern Hemisphere”. Around the southern tip the overhanging cliffs with stacks off shore represents an extremely important breeding habitat for seabirds – this is the northern limit for some auk species and one of the reasons for this being such a hot-spot is that cold waters from the Arctic Ocean meets warm, Gulf Stream currents, part of the global marine conveyor belt system. In the convergence of waters of different salinity and temperature there are often optimal feeding grounds for sea birds. Here is also the place where high concentrations of pollutants in species high in the food web.

Our goal here is to observe and understand the habitat, how it’s affected by climate change and other environmental threats and to enjoy the spectacular wildlife shortly after the breeding season have started. If conditions allow we will do a tender cruise. No landings are permitted in the area. 

Hornsund, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

Hornsund is the southernmost fjord in Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard Archipelago. Hornsund have a long research history and the Polish Academy of Sciences have a field station situated here. In the Arctic spring, the time of our visit we can still expect fast ice to be found in the bottom of the fjord and we should keep a sharp eye open in case the King of the Arctic, the polar bear is hunting, taking advantage of the ice platform they are so dependent upon. We will spend the whole day in this relatively compact fjord system, exploring giant bird cliffs and enormous glacier fronts. Interesting climate research projects such as investigating which crustaceans the little aucks consume and how far off shore they have to travel to find their feeding grounds.

Bellsund, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

Bellsund is the next fjord north of Hornsund. Van Mijenfjord and Van Keulenfjord are subsidiary arms of Bellsund. In Van Keulenfjord we will observe the Finsterwald Glacier which have been closely measured by scientists since the nineteen fifties. We will learn more about the phenomenon called surging glaciers and we will spend time on shore close and right on top of the very interesting geological strata’s from the upper Permian period.

Ny Ålesund, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

Situated at 78º 55' N, Ny-Ålesund is one of the world’s northermost year-round communities. Coal mining was the origin for settlement here, but mining was put to an end after a serious accident in 1962, leaving behind numerous cultural remains of technical and industrial importance.  Ny-Ålesund has also been the starting point of several historical attempts to reach the North Pole. Names like Amundsen, Ellsworth and Nobile are strongly linked to Ny-Ålesund.

Today, Ny Ålesund is an extremely important campus for scientists from leading institutes such as Alfred Wegener Institute and Norwegian Polar Institute. In 2005, a state of the art marine laboratory was opened to facilitate for the fieldwork of marine biologists and oceanographers – this is the most sophisticated marine laboratory in the world at this latitude.

There is also a small visitor’s centre in Ny Ålesund with a good muliti-media show, in addition to the northernmost post office in the world.

Kongsfjorden, in which Ny Ålesund is situated we find a large glacier front and we also find subsidiary arms that we will explore after having stayed overnight in the port of Ny Ålesund. If we are lucky the Mellageret pub (very occasional opening hours) is open and the product Arctic Beer is available for those having done hikes in the area and has a need to adjust the fluid balance.

After our visit to Ny Ålesund and Kongsfjorden we will head north, towards the ice edge of the Arctic Ocean that we can expect to hit just around the North West corner of Spitsbergen.

Furthest North

Dependent on ice conditions we will make a try to cross the 80th parallel. In the beginning of last century, up until less than a couple of decades ago, a plan to get this far north would have been unconceivable at this time of the year. However, times have changed and ice conditions as well. Today we will find ourselves in an area close to the marginal ice-zone, an area known for relatively large yearly variations. This is the edge of the frozen Arctic Ocean, the place the original Fram that Fritjof Nansen had purposely built with a egg-shaped hull to prevent being torn apart by the enormous power of shifting ice. Our Fram, the modern expedition vessel used for the Climate Pilgrimage runs no larger risk taking us into this fairyland of ice flows and leads. And we will, with our own eyes observe the habitat where cornerstone biological production takes place in this region of the world. Only up until a few years ago, science were under-estimating the importance of algae growth underneath first year sea ice, propelled into production by rays of the 24hrs sunlight shining through the snow and ice.

If we are lucky we will spot some of the larger species using these waters as hunting grounds. Keep your eyes open for walrus, whales and polar bears.

Isfjorden, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

This morning we will wake up sailing into Isfjorden. This area of Svalbard is a fraction more hospitable than the savage Arctic Ocean and we will again observe giant bird cliffs. Isfjorden is the largest fjord system in Spitsbergen almost slicing the island in half. Our expedition will search for a fitting bay where we can make our last expedition landing out of many on this epic voyage and we will wrap up everything with festivities and Polar Barbeque on deck of MV Fram. Late night we will set sail towards Longyearbyen, the main Norwegian settlement in Svalbard – leaving one of the last large European wildernesses behind, probably with a wealth of new climate knowledge and, maybe most important a love for the pristine Arctic nature and her population of vulnerable wildlife of the region.

Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

Some of you will be transferred to the airport of Longyearbyen immediately after arrival, the rest can rest in the bunks until breakfast. After breakfast we will transfer into the centre of Longyearbyen where we will visit the University Centre of Svalbard and Svalbard Museum the is co-located in a modern architecture building. Here we will get information about science taking place out of Longyearbyen and we will learn more about the CO-2 storage project that may make Longyearbyen the first CO-2 neutral High Arctic town in the world. You will have time to wander around this fascinating town, still bearing the signs of being an outpost but still modern, with hospital, school and sport facilities.

We will also learn more about Svalbard Satellite Station and the importance of Svalbard being a location for reading down data from satellites in a circumpolar orbit. These data are being exported to e.g. meteorological offices worldwide. This station is a symbol of Svalbard following the high-tech development elsewhere in the world and in many ways being a “driver” for technology development in search for answers that are of universal interest, such as Climate Change.

Longyearbyen and transfer to airport.

Our Climate Pilgrimage has come to an end. For those of you not staying longer in Longyearbyen your departure will be on an early morning flight towards Norway mainland and your connections homebound.