The ice front of Austfonna with meltwater falling into the sea

Svalbard

78°13′N · 15°38′E14–30 July 2026
A polar bear climbing over grey rock
Morning BearEntry 048
Walruses resting together on a beach
Protect the little one!Entry 046
A tabular iceberg under a dark sky
Off NegribreenEntry 044
A dark arctic fox cub among rocks
The Arctic Blue Fox CubEntry 048
A humpback whale breaking the surface
A Kittiwake went in after something and it did not consider the whale.Entry 046
A polar bear swimming below mossy boulders
Ghost With a NoseEntry 048
Latitudes · 78°N

Sixteen days in July 2026 on the Rembrandt van Rijn, a Dutch schooner, around the archipelago and back to Longyearbyen. Twenty-eight artists and scientists. Four guides with rifles. Nine polar bears. A tonne and a half of walrus. Humpbacks alongside the hull at two in the morning. At Fuglefjorden a glacier front came apart for four and a half hours. Christiane Ritter watched ice leave her fjord ninety years ago and wrote that it was spring. The words still fit. What sits under them has changed.

The film on this page is a first cut. My first impression. The full documentary is in progress.

When
14–30 July 2026
Ship
Rembrandt van Rijn, three-masted schooner
Residency
The Arctic Circle expeditionary residency
Route
Longyearbyen, around the archipelago, Longyearbyen
Logbook
Day Zero to Day 16, Entries 036–052
Credits
Film and photographs by Richard.Film: music “Undone” by Ólafur Arnalds. Jellyfish footage by Maggie Puckett.Reel: music “Overcome” by Skott.© 2026 Nordstern. All rights reserved. Share the link anywhere you like. Please do not download or repost the films.
FilmSvalbard, July 2026. The best photos from the voyage. Music: “Overcome” by Skott.
A polar bear standing on a gravel shore
Our first bearEntry 043
The ship below a glacier front, seen from the rocks
From the rocksPhoto: Christina Olson
Rain on a window, a low orange sun over dark water
The Dark ReturnsEntry 052
The schooner Rembrandt van Rijn under a wall of glacier ice
The Rembrandt in front of DahlbreenEntry 050
A large polar bear walking along a gravel beach
WichebuktaEntry 044
A rust-orange stone with a white quartz shape on a pebble beach
The stone with a bear in itEntry 044
Peaks and a still lagoon under a blue sky
Mount Doom I mean OrodruinEntry 041
A fjord seen from the air
LeavingEntry 052
Rock shore and peaks at Hornsund
HornsundPhoto: Cathleen McCluskey
The Rembrandt van Rijn at anchor under a grey sky
At anchorEntry 053
The entrance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault
The Seed Vault, LongyearbyenEntry 051

The words are the same. What sits underneath them has changed.

From the logbook

Arctic Residents · Svalbard 2026The series →
Pencil sketch of an arctic fox's face
Arctic FoxSketch · Arctic Residents
Pencil sketch of a sitting polar bear looking up
Polar Bear, SittingSketch · Arctic Residents
Pencil sketch of a walrus resting on its flippers
WalrusSketch · Arctic Residents
Pencil sketch of a standing polar bear, head lowered
Polar BearSketch · Arctic Residents
From the logbook · the voyage, day by day
  1. 036 · Day ZeroThe Bear on the Belt
  2. 037 · Day 01The Pole in the Room
  3. 038 · Day 02Good Morning, Good Morning
  4. 039 · Day 03No Ground
  5. 040 · Day 04Ice Is Right
  6. 041 · Day 05The Evidence
  7. 042 · Day 06What the Ship Remembered
  8. 043 · Day 07The Bear and the Bird
  9. 044 · Day 08Out of the Water
  10. 045 · Day 09The Stones Go First
  11. 046 · Day 10The Wild Ones
  12. 047 · Day 11In As Good Order
  13. 048 · Day 12One of a Thousand
  14. 049 · Day 13Let the Grass Have It
  15. 050 · Day 14Days of Future Past
  16. 051 · Day 15Please Remember to Sign Off
  17. 052 · Day 16Takk for turen!
  18. 053 · AfterSo You’re Going to Svalbard?
Next, further southIceland64°08′N
Furthest north so far 80°N