Our expert led Arctic Diving, Wildlife & Marine Life and Photography voyage to North Spitsbergen will this year again be guided by Aqua-Firma’s Kelvin Murray - former British Antarctic Survey dive officer. Onboard with him providing photographic workshops and helping you make the most of the scenic beauty and wildlife of the area will be Andy Davies, Aqua-Firma’s professional photographer both above and below the water. 

This diving in the arctic expedition departs in mid June, a time of the Midnight Sun when life is returning in force to the Arctic. Each year we have been spectacularly rewarded with inredible wildlife sightings with last year’s highlights including 13 polar bears, colonies of walruses, hundreds of thousands of birds and whales including blue, minke, humpback, fin and beluga.

Diving in the arctic can be at its best in Spitsbergen in early in the season, when ice which has not yet melted by the midsummer sun. Plankton levels remain lower and visibility is usually better than later in the summer. There is plenty of ice around providing a wonderful landscape of dramatic glaciers, sea ice and the occasional snow fall.

Diving beneath the Arctic Ocean

With so little of the Arctic explored underwater, there is always an exploratory feel to diving so far north. For the experienced drysuit diver, this is a pioneering expedition providing the chance to dive where few have dived before. We aim to do at least two boat dives each day, when weather and ice conditions allow. Rather than cut a hole in the ice, we dive around the sea ice which is often in constant motion cracking and growling around you.

Forests of kelp are also a feature of many sites, particularly on some of the more gentle fjord submarine slopes. Here and in areas of rocky terrain, unique macro life can be found:  star fish, huge spider crabs, soft corals, colourful dahlia anemones, peacock worms and polar fish. Plankton life is particularly fascinating with the sea angel (Clione limacine) and their swimming prey  (Limacina helicina), a predatory sea snail found  floating in the water column.  You may also be able to observe a variety of Arctic fish, shrubby horse-tails, jellyfish and sea hedgehogs.

Seals are frequently observed on the ice and on shore, and if out of range beneath the water you can still hear their 'seal songs' - a phenomenon not limited to whales! It is the ice specialist bearded and harp seals who make most use of underwater vocalizations as a means of communication.

Where there are seals there are often polar bears predating them - a wonderful mammal who we always keep an eye out for, both for the thrill of seeing them, but also to avoid when in the water. Walruses are similarly interesting, but a healthy respect and distance is needed as they can be aggressive and have in the past been adept at popping our zodiacs!

Above & Below Water Photography Workshops

This special Arctic diving wildlife, marine life and  photographic departure will have onboard our Aqua-Firma professional photographer Andy Davies. Andy is a marine scientist and has been a professional photographer for over 20 years, specialising in wildlife and landscape photography both above and below the water.  The writer of several books, Andy has also advised research and conservation bodies such as Marine Conservation Society and WWF on marine and coastal environmental management around the World. 

Andy’s skills and techniques with both camera and video will provide the focus of several workshops which he will present as part of this special photographic departure. Participants will benefit above water with spectacular mountain, glaciers and polar nature and wildlife as his subject matter.  Below the waterline, he can help and encourage you to improve your photographic skills making the best of your waterproof camera and perhaps resulting in some magnificent images of the below the Arctic seas !

Wildlife, Marine Life & the Arctic Wilderness

For participants who do not dive, having divers onboard  the voyage provides a unique opportunity to see and learn more about the complete polar ecosystem than on a purely land based expedition. With Andy as our Aqua-Firma photographic specialist, non-divers  will  be able to observe his underwater images from our daily diving explorations. A team of natural history experts and guides will deliver a comprehensive programme of inspiring evening lectures about the wildlife, ecology, history and conservation of the Arctic.

The above water voyage focuses on the spectacular fjords and islands of North Spitsbergen, which offer spectacular numbers of birds in early summer and chance encounters with walruses, reindeer, arctic foxes, ringed and bearded seals and hopefully polar bears. We are always on the lookout for whales, of which we might hope to see fin whales, minke whales and the ghostly white beluga. Less frequently, blue whales, humpbacks, and sei whales have been seen on these voyages.

Our aim is to reach the Hinlopen Strait and the island of Nordaustlandet, the most northerly of the major Spitsbergen islands. Ringed by high mountains and shimmering glaciers, these northern bays and fjords offer outstanding Arctic landscapes that are likely to leave deep and lasting impression.

Diving notes

This expedition does not involve cutting holes in the ice to dive. Dives are conducted from the expedition vessel's compliment of zodiacs, whilst others are from the shore.  Dives are relatively shallow and we dive to approximately 30 to 60 feet. Please see our dedicated polar diving information for more details

Sea Kayaking in Spitsbergen

If you can draw yourself away from a few dives, sea kayaking in Spitsbergen is quite exceptional. As long as you have at least some kayaking experience, you can find yourself in your own or a double kayak, paddling alongside sea ice on which a huge walrus is resting; alongside steep cliffs covered in thousands of Arctic sea birds; paddling alongside an inquisitive bearded seal; or sliding quiet and close to a herd of Spitsbergen reindeer.
 
"In the space of less than two hours I kayaked past three enormous glaciers, dramatic high peaked mountains, seals, birds ... and at the end of a trail of polar bear tracks watched as two polar bear cubs snuggled up to their mother on a headland and gazed out to sea". (Ralph Pannell on our Arctic diving expepdition in June 2011)

Arctic dive- Spitsbergen- Expedition Cruise - Responsible Travel - Carbon Climate Neutral - Svalbard - Arctic Voyage - Ice Diving - North Spitsbergen