Guildford Travel Club Presents

Spitsbergen – The Realm of the Polar Bear

1st April 2025

Paul Stanbury

 

Join Paul for a journey around the spectacular Arctic island of Spitsbergen, the largest of the Svalbard archipelago, a dramatic land of jagged mountains, awe-inspiring glaciers and deep fjords lying just 600 miles south of the North Pole and home to an exciting variety of polar wildlife.

Huge colonies of Little Auks, Brünnich’s Guillemots and other seabirds crowd the coastal cliffs, whilst inland, Grey Phalarope, Long-tailed Skua, King Eider and Barnacle Goose breed.

Pack-ice lingers offshore throughout the summer, the hunting ground for the magnificent Polar Bear and home to Walrus, Harp Seal, Beluga Whale and the occasional Bowhead Whale too.

Paul leads tours for NatureTrek - you can find out a little bit more about him on their website.


Note that this is a change to our originally published programme. Unfortunately the speaker booked for the previously advertised talk has since relocated out of the UK.


Isfjord, Spitsbergen's largest fjord
Grey Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius)
Brunnich's guillemot (Uria lomvia) nesting colony, Alkefjellet, Cape Fanshaw, Hinlopen Strait, Svalbard
Walrus, near Storøya island, North-east Svalbard Nature Reserve