Trappers and Whalers in Svalbard

On hikes from the National Geographic Explorer last week we visited several uninhabited islands. After wet landings in Zodiac boats, we walked on the tundra or on snow fields -- visitors are few, so there are no paths to follow, just open land. Birds, harbor seals, reindeer, and a fox were the only living things we saw. However, almost every hike went past at least one wooden cabin or stone building that had been the temporary home of whalers or hunters who spent the winter trapping foxes and hunting polar bears.

Outdoor kitchen: a stove and kettle left by trappers near the kittiwake colony.

A cabin used by trappers until polar bear hunting became illegal in 1973.

The kitchen inside the cabin above.
Researcher groups sometimes still stay in it.

Remains of a trapper cabin.

Trappers frequently used wood to build their huts or cabins. Although no trees grow on the tundra, and the tallest plants are a few inches high, huge logs and dressed planks are piled up on every shoreline, washed across the Arctic by currents from Siberian rivers where logging is done. This wood is critical for both building cabins and for use as fuel to heat them. In older structures if anything remains at all, it's stone...

Stone structure left by whalers, probably centuries ago.

Stone foundation of a whaler hut, including a grave...

A whaler who evidently did not survive his stay on Svalbard. Graves are a common sight where these men once lived.

Whaling was the first commercial activity that brought Europeans up to the Arctic. Svalbard was discovered in the late 16th century, and English, Dutch, and other whalers began to come up frequently, chasing the numerous and valuable whales that inhabit Svalbard's waters. We were lucky to see several blue whales, fin whales, and humpback whales during the voyage.

A blue whale.

Kenneth Monsen, a Norwegian naturalist and expedition guide, was one of the memorable staff members we talked to on the voyage. Kenneth lived for a winter with his wife in an isolated trapper cabin; he gave a fascinating illustrated presentation about how they traveled to their temporary home, gathered wood for the winter, trapped and hunted for food, managed their dogs, enjoyed the coming of light at the end of winter, and generally how they lived as much as they could in the old ways. 

Kenneth Monsen.

Kenneth and his wife and children now live on a farm outside of Oslo where they raise sled dogs for racing. We asked him if trappers living together in close quarters ever became violently angry with each other -- Kenneth said "When you feel that way, you go out and talk to the dogs."

Sled dogs at a kennel we visited on our tour of Longyearbyen. The dogs sleep outside in summer: houses would be too warm for them.

In an interesting structure at the kennel, we enjoyed tea boiled over an open fire,
and Norwegian waffles with brown cheese.

A trapper's kitchen in the museum in Longyearbyen.