Where Sea & Mountains Meet

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Norwegian Sea, July 2020

After our brief stop in Bergen, mid Norway, another couple of weeks are spent north of the Arctic Circle, out at sea, where the infinite horizon keeps being our loyal company.

Also here, where the sky touches the sea, each day offers different colours and scenery...

During this summer-long survey, we spend the majority of the time far out on the vast waterbody, where no land is to be seen. 

Endless horizons for weeks makes it feel exotic when seeing mountains appear in distance. It is the majestic Lofoten islands we pass by!

On our way south again, we get a glimpse of Nordkap and the most northern point of Norway, Knivskjellodden. Elusively covered by the fog, the surrounding ambience gives room for extra imagination.

After leaving the Arctic Ocean behind us, we continue the southbound journey to resume the field work that remains in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea...

Summer Solstice at 72° North

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Norwegian Sea to Bergen, Norway, End of June 2020

Summer in the north and winter in the south. This solstice was spent far out in the Norwegian Sea, at 72° North, were the sun never sets this time of the year. Only clouds or fog might dim the midnight sun...

Surrounded by the infinite horizon, I am spending this Nordic summer onboard the research ship ACC Mosby, joining a whale survey held by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR). In company of cetaceans and sea birds, we are the only ship in sight for weeks...

As observers, we look for any kind of cetacean, other marine mammal, or bigger fish. So far, we have had the great pleasure of spotting both minke whales, fin whales, killer whales, humpback whales, harbour porpoises and some few harbour seals.

With 6 °C in both water and air, we missed the big heat wave that ruled over Scandinavia the past three weeks or so. 

No shortage of salty air and great sea view though!

Our time in the vast Norwegian Sea is followed by a couple of days in the second longest fjord in Norway, the 180 kilometer long Hardangerfjord, and a short, but appreciated visit to the village "Odda", beautifully situated furthest inside the Sørfjord, one of the innermost branches of the Hardangerfjord.

How good it feels to stretch the legs, and to enjoy the flourishing surroundings, after weeks at sea. Variation in life is the best! 

Now a brief refuel- (and run wild) stop in Bergen to soon head out on the big blue again. Who knows what kind of aquatic wildlife we will spot during our upcoming weeks at sea!

Summer Off The Norwegian Coast

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Bergen, Norway, Early June 2020

Most of this summer is spent off the Norwegian coast, where I currently am joining a field survey held by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. These couple of months are mainly spent far out in the Norwegian Sea, with only some few, temporary mainland visits.

With limited communication possibilities to the outside world, but with endless amounts of fresh and salty air, we set course towards the wide horizon. More updated pics from the place where the sky touches the sea, when back at the Norwegian coast for a another brief port visit!

Pre-Summer at the Swedish West Coast

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Northwestern coast of Sweden, May 2020

From constantly being on the move, in both polar regions and tropical seas, I have, since my last Antarctic assignment, been having a good month of appreciated downtime at the Swedish west coast.

With its quiet nature and salty surrounding, this is the sweetest and most peaceful place for room and thought. 💙💦

It´s been 10 years!!

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Wonderful Planet Tellus, April/May 2020

It´s been 10 years since I started this blog! It feels like yesterday, when I thought of the idea of sharing my close and remote adventures in a blog-like setup... that was in April 2010, a decade ago!! Time flies!

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I started creating this page with the aim of sharing my life's various ventures in hope to inspire others in the same time as raising interest and awareness for wildlife and the beautiful planet we live on.

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The blog has almost become like a monthly photo-diary and it is fun to look back on the big variety of experiences and different wildlife encounters these past years have been filled with.

So thankful I am for each of these beautiful moments and all the amazing people these adventures have brought me to.

All blog posts can be found under "Archive" to the top-right, where you also can search the blog by using the above search column.

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Now I am very curious about what new exciting experiences that await ahead. In addition to exotic plans, the many unforeseen adventures that keep popping up make life even more wild and remarkable!

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Most important though is to live the moment, laugh every day and to treasure the beauty surrounding us here and now! 💙

Evacuation From Uruguay

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Montevideo, Uruguay - Orust, Sweden, Mid of April 2020

After 3 weeks at anchor, 10 nautical miles off Montevideo in Uruguay, we finally got the good news that an evacuation was about to happen. Fingers crossed we all should be off the ship soon...

Thanks to the hard work and collaboration between the Aurora team, the Uruguayan Government and different international embassies, several chartered planes were organised to safely get us all back home.

96 Australians and 16 kiwis were the first ones to get off in Montevideo, starting their travel back home, where 14 days of quarantine awaits.

A small week after our aussie- and kiwi friends got evacuated, it was time for the rest of us, 15 pax from different nationalities in Europe, as well as the US and Canada, to finally step off the ship.

By bus we then got police escorted through the city of Montevideo to the airport. How amazing to see the citizens of Montevideo being so involved and supportive of our evacuation!

Our chartered medical plane would bring us, via Miami, back to Europe. A plane set up into risk zones with divided sectors, where each passenger is seated by their covid-19 test result.

After such a long time aboard a virus-infected vessel, I feel fortunate as all of my test results have been negative, but regardless of the test results we are all in good health and in the best mood :-)

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40 hours later from when we left Montevideo, I finally find myself back at the Swedish west coast, where spring is flourishing as never before.

A warm thank you to Aurora Expeditions, the Uruguayan Government and the embassies for all the hard work in finding solutions to get us all back home. And of course, my biggest hugs (which I haven't been able to share in a very long time now!) to every single one of the amazing expedition team, who all kept an outstanding teamwork, kindness and high spirits despite the circumstances and many uncertainties onboard.

Very sad news reached us soon after we all reached our destinations. One of the crew members, who was hospitalised due to critical covid-19 symptoms, past away. My condolences to family and friends. R.I.P