With its rugged mountains, sweeping tundra, and enormous ice-caps, Spitsbergen embodies the high Arctic. The largest island in the Svalbard Archipelago--part of Norway to its south--the island lies just 600 miles from the North Pole. Beginning in the capital of Longyearbyen, we'll sail around the north end of the island aboard the 50-passenger M/V Plancius. The ship was recently refurbished (2008) for expedition travel and is comfortable, eminently practical, and perfectly designed for smooth cruising in Arctic waters.

Known as a region that is uncompromising to those species that inhabit it, the Arctic is one of the most beautiful and yet least birded areas of the world. The list of birds occurring in the far North is small when compared to tropical reaches, but the quality of the species is great. The magnificent bird cliffs along the Spitsbergen coast are a breeding ground for tens of thousands of Black Guillemots and Thick-billed Murres, with Atlantic Puffins, Dovekies, Northern Fulmars, and Black-legged Kittiwakes also in abundance on or around the cliffs. On the flowering tundra, Arctic Terns, Common Ringed Plovers, Purple Sandpipers, Great Skua, and all three species of jaeger thrive alongside nesting shorebirds. And then there are those elusive gulls--Ross's, Sabine's, and the ghostly Ivory, a bird so dependent on ice-covered environs it seems to have mystical qualities.

Spitsbergen's coastal waters support several seal species including Bearded and Ringed, and the small Beluga, or white whale, as well as Minke and Fin whales are frequently seen. Walrus can be found lounging on the ice-floes and on the beaches, and the lush tundra is home to the indigenous Svalbard Reindeer and Arctic Fox. And, with 20 percent of the world's Polar Bear population, there is also an excellent chance of encountering this most engaging of mammals, one that is also among the largest carnivores in the world.

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