Svalbard – The Cold Coast of Norway’s High Arctic

Beth Moore spots Belugas

Svalbard, a territory of Norway, is a large archipelago 600 miles north of the Norwegian mainland in the Arctic Ocean. The islands are home to Walruses, Seals, Whales, Arctic Fox, Reindeer, over thirty types of birds and of course, Polar Bears. Besides abundant wildlife, pristine glaciers and stunning vistas, the islands are also home to some very interesting establishments. At one point, Russia owned and operated three large coal mining operations in the islands. Today, only one, Barentsburg, remains. The territory is governed under the Svalbard Treaty of 1920. According to this, any of the forty signatory countries are allowed to conduct commercial activities on the archipelago as long as they have no military implications. This is where things get grey. The United States funded the construction of Svalsat, a satellite ground station on Spitsbergen that communicates with polar orbiting satellites as they pass overhead. The information received from the satellites is transmitted to the Norwegian mainland via an undersea fibre optic cable. Many countries use the station to download weather and other scientific data, but recently there has been concern that the station is also being used to direct missile and drone strikes from the United States. The debate continues with no one willing to tell the truth, but in the mean time, here are some images of the more natural and not so natural parts of this fantastic part of the polar world.