11-NT Fjords of East Greenland

Heimaey Island is the largest in the Westman Islands located 6,5km off the south-west coast of Iceland. One of the most visually impressive islands in Iceland, it is ringed by tall, vertical sea cliffs many hundreds of feet high. Heimaey is also the home to over eight million Atlantic puffins, more nesting puffins than anywhere else on earth. A local story tells that puffin chicks, taking their first flights at night, often become stranded in the village streets, where the local children rescue them and set them free the next day. In 1973 the island received the nickname, ‘Pompeii of the North’ when a volcanic eruption and lava flow destroyed half the town. This caused a crisis when the town’s only harbour was nearly blocked by advancing lava. Nowadays it is a lively place with a vibrant culture and over four thousand residents.

The small Greenlandic town of Ittoqqortoormiit sits at the entrance to Scoresby Sund, the longest fjord on Earth. Although founded in 1925, the original colonists to the area were Palaeo-Eskimo peoples 4,000 years ago. Housing 500 people, Ittoqqortoormiit derives its name from Greenlandic meaning ‘Big-House Dwellers’. A walk through town, reveals a vibrant Greenlandic culture. Seal, muskox and even a polar bear skin can be seen drying on racks outside of private homes.

Scoresby Sund, the longest fjord in the world, cuts into the East Greenlandic Mountains 350 kilometers (216 miles), is 50 kilometers (30 miles) wide and occupies an area equivalent to the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. This is one of the most remote and wildest regions on Earth. It was named in honor of English explorer William Scoresby who mapped the fjord in 1822.

Deep in Scorseby Sound in the King Christian X Land of eastern Greenland, we will discover a wonderland of geological color in the Rødefjord, or Red Fjord. The entire ford is walled with cliffs of 300 million-year old Permian red sandstone, which stands out between the deep blue sky and the ink-blue waters of the fjord dotted with shining white icebergs.

Entering the broad Scoresby Sund in northeast Greenland, and bearing to starboard, we trace the northeastern coast of the fjord at its broadest reach, before it splits into three smaller fjords. Just there we come upon a headland intruding beyond a small bay. This is Sydkap, or South Cape. The slopes are rounded, made up of glaciated floors of stone interspersed with colorful tufts of tundra vegetation.

At the head of Øfjord is a scenic group of low lying rocky islands known as the Bear Islands. Sydkap (South Cape) situated at the north end of Scoresby Sund is set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Stauning Alps. Here colossal icebergs, some in excess of 100 meters (330’) high and 1 kilometer (.6 mile) wide, have run aground in the shallow water.

On the King Frederick VI Coast of Greenland’s southeast quadrant, the semi-circular Umivik Bay is carved out just north of the Denmark Strait. Unlike the sheer cliffs and rugged terrain presented by much of the coastline, the shores inside the bay are smooth and the massive Greenland Ice Sheet comes right down to the shore in undulating slopes. This profile persuaded Fritjof Nansen to select the bay as the starting point of his successful 1888 expedition to cross Greenland over the ice sheet.

Imagine a narrow fjord bordered by rugged peaks, vertical rock walls and serpentine rivers of ice plunging into the sea. This is Skjoldungen Fjord, named by Wilhelm August Graah after the honorific title Skjoldungen which, according to Norse mythology, was given to successors of legendary King Skjold to the Danish throne.

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