Greetings Friends,â I was so very lucky that almost 6 years ago being part of an expedition cruise organised by the by the Oceanwide Expedition Group to the North Pole. The Adventure started in Longyearbyen the town closest to the Pole. Here the visual impressions I've got touring this part of the world in June 2017â .â â The Rush for Whale Oilâ â In 1607, when Englishman Henry Hudson announced that the waters around Svalbard were full of bowhead whales, whalers flocked to the islands in search of lucrative whale oil. Whale hunters and seamen from the Netherlands, England, Spain, France, Germany and Denmark nearly emptied the sea of its whale population through the 1600s.â â During this period, Svalbard and its surroundings were marked as âterra nulliusâ, meaning that it was considered a no-manâs-land that belonged to no jurisdiction or country, free for all. That didnât stop the two main whaling nations, the Dutch and the English, from carving up the whaling waters amongst themselves. It was agreed the English would hunt south of the Magdalenefjord, while the Dutch hunted the north-western corner of Spitsbergen. Other countries were forced to make separate deals with the two nations, much to their chagrin.â â #spitsbergen #svalbard #arctic #visitsvalbard #norway #longyearbyen #nature #mittsvalbard #travel #visitnorway #spitzbergen #naturephotography #svalbardlife #wildlife #polarbear #norge #landscape #expedition #unisvalbard #travelphotography #landscapephotography #svalbardposten #utno #arcticcircle #polar #auroraborealis #winter #snow #uwe_foto #uwewullfenphotography (at Longyearbyen) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpCpE9SsGob/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=