Franz Josef Land - Russia's Arctic Wilderness

At its nearest point, the Russian archipelago of Franz Josef Land lies a mere 560 miles from the North Pole, a distance surpassed only by Canada’s Ellesmere Island and the northernmost tip of Greenland. The archipelago is made up of 191 islands – none being permanently inhabited – which cover over 16,000 square kilometres of near-pristine Arctic wilderness. These remote and rarely visited outposts are clothed in perpetual darkness for four months each winter and entombed in sea-ice for much of the rest of the year. For a few brief months, between late June and September, however, the icy grip of winter relaxes, the sun hangs permanently overhead and a wonderful abundance of hardy wildlife descends onto the sea cliffs and tundra, and into sheltered bays, to feed and raise young.

There are few places more off the beaten track than Franz Josef Land. Access is strictly controlled by the Russian authorities and few vessels are permitted to visit. One of these, however, is the MV Sea Spirit, the very comfortable, 108-berth, cruise ship which we will be joining for the exciting expedition cruise. This 14-day holiday, which includes a 12-night cruise, offers a rare opportunity to explore a seldom-visited icy wilderness and go in search of its hardy inhabitants from Polar Bears and Walrus to Beluga and the rare Bowhead Whale.

One of the key advantages of this cruise is that it embarks in Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard, and not in mainland Russia far to the south. Therefore our journey to Franz Josef Land will be much shorter, with the added advantage that our route will follow the edge of the pack-ice, where we are likely to see our first Polar wildlife. It then gives us a full week in which to explore the islands and plenty of time to head deep into the archipelago to visit its prime wildlife and scenic sites. This far north, only the hardiest of creatures can thrive, but many of these do so in scarcely believable numbers. Over five million seabirds nest on the islands each year, including around a million Brünnich’s Guillemots and vast swarms of Little Auks that swirl over the rocky hillsides. Arctic Foxes, Franz Josef Land’s only land mammal, also benefit from these sprawling seabird cities, with eggs and chicks being an important part of their diet during the brief summer season.

Franz Josef Land’s most iconic resident, however, is the Polar Bear, and this cruise will offer one of the very best opportunities for an encounter or two with this magnificent mammal. The bears that patrol the shorelines and sea-ice here are part of the Barents Sea population, which numbers around 2,500 individuals. We will also search for a far rarer denizen of these frozen seas – the Bowhead Whale. This legendary behemoth dwells year-round in Arctic waters, and can live for over 200 years! Walrus are common throughout the islands too and we also hope to encounter pods of ghostly white Beluga Whales. We will watch Ivory Gulls gliding serenely overhead, and need to keep an eye open for the delicate Ross’s Gull, for, although this denizen of the north does breed here, non-breeding individuals are occasionally sighted in the summer months.

We will also not ignore the botany during our privileged time here. In areas where a thin layer of soil has developed over the millennia the plant-life is surprisingly diverse. Fifty seven species of vascular plants have been found, the most common of which are Arctic Poppy and nine species of saxifrage. Vegetation is typically sparse in the unforgiving ice-scoured landscape, but where the ground is fertilised by guano from the seabird colonies, plant cover can reach one hundred per cent.

The backdrops to all this wildlife will be equally memorable. Over three quarters of the archipelago is covered by glaciers, numerous fingers of which reach down to the coast and calve into the sea. We will enjoy islands fortified by towering sea cliffs, and others, gentler of profile, yet with ample geological attractions of their own, such as the bizarre stone spheres on Champ Island sculpted over the millennia by the ice, snow and the wind. Dramatic landscapes are the norm here and it is this combination of exciting wildlife and spectacular scenery that is sure to make the cruise so special.

After a week exploring the islands of Franz Josef Land we must retrace our steps back to Svalbard and from there leave the roof of the world and travel home.