Took his antler off him because he was bashing me in the shins with it and now he is Mad mad. Look at that stink eye 😂

Seasons up here are flexible at best. These photos are two days apart.

Quick splash in the fjord on a hot summer's day. Ft visitors.

The blackout curtains are losing to the July sun and now there is a lovely image of the mountain opposite projected camera-obscura style onto my bedroom ceiling 😭

Two absolutely delightful photos in the local paper today: 1) the firefighters moving the geese away from the hospital so the helicopter can land for an emergency drill 2) the police, slightly later, moving the geese (who have returned), so the helicopter can take off again.

Bird flirting technique of the day

I've been on the beach all day. Now, I have too many walrus photos so I'm entertaining myself with silly crops. It's a nice problem to have.

Rotato

Much more alive after today's full run than after yesterday's 6km jog for some reason 😂 He carried this antler for the last 2km and tried to show it to a reindeer, which is a behaviour I have chosen not to evaluate

Pointed my new lens at a walrus who has seen some things.

It is officially fuzzy bird month in the high north. As always with photos of vulnerable animals, I want it noted that this is taken on a lens of ungodly length, from an unobtrusive location and with continuous awareness of the mother's behaviour.

Boy Dog has had a very hard day 😂

The team at UNIS have made a really very cool tool for those of you frustrated that Streetview doesn't cover the Svalbard wilderness learningarcticbiology.info/360/vfg/map/

It's warm warm in the midnight sun, so tonight we will sleep with the balcony door open in the living room (we're on the lowest floor, right above the stilts) and I have left the van windows open. I never want to live somewhere you can't do that ever again.

More 'I promise it is further north thank you think'-s, because I enjoy them and because I think the context is useful.

Also, this is not an exaggeration. It is by far the coolest fact about me. The very southernmost known penguin colony is at 77°33' S and I am at 78°13' N.

Some of you don't agree with my definition of unreasonably warm 😂 just a reminder that I live closer to the north pole than penguins do to the south pole, and when was the last time you saw a penguin with his shorts on?

Oh my god it's so unreasonably warm. I have got my shorts on 😂😂😭

Whyyyyy? What is that? 😭

I will tell you what, feeding individual sausages, one by one, into the garbage disposal/macerator after you've fucked up and dropped a whole tray of expensive sausages (and the dog can't even eat them because of the garlic) is *deeply* therapeutic.

okay this was the real point of the trip and ive been practicing for weeks and weeks AND I FUCKIN DID I DID IT I DID IT just hand developed this shit TODAY fuckin ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY ON FILM MOTHERFUCKER fucking KODAK T-MAX 400 hell yesssssssssss 🔭

There are 3000 cruise tourists in town. So I am ✨ elsewhere ✨

I'm sorry, but I do want to just reiterate that I have the coolest job. Like, top 10 coolest jobs, at least.

Nearly got headbutted by an unanticipated beluga. Just another day at the office 😂

We are a couple of days out from the summer solstice and the weather has decided to politely but firmly decline the invitation

We've had a tiny bit of June snow. Not loads, just enough to give the mountains some texture

Here's a slightly more flattering snap of last night's fox. Flattering in that it isn't squinting into the sun - I can't do anything about its ridiculous hip fluff.

Was there for the baby bloogs (who are getting really quite big now!) but the fox was a nice bonus. It is too bright, though. Both photos were taken after 9pm.

It is far too shiny in the midnight sun at the moment. This fox agrees with me.

There's a bear in Bjørndalen again. We're going to have to change the name, it's starting to get predictable. The governor and his team have gone out to try to move it away from the major tourist hiking route.

They call that shouting a tern signal

I have seen Little Terns flirting by stroking their partners’ backs with a wet fish.

As you may know, I am no fan of terns, but I do like a quiet hour at the beach, watching their ridiculous flirting strategy To flirt like an Arctic tern, you find a faceful of fish and then fly around at high speed, making sharp turns and shouting 'LOOK AT ME! I'VE GOT A FACEFUL OF FISH!'

Today's Tourist of the Day™ is very disappointed that the supermarket only stocks 'imported and frozen food' and doesn't 'bother with local produce'. Not 100% clear on where she thinks we are hiding the locally grown vegetables.

There's a bit of a Draw Your Own Mountains vibe going on this evening.

One of my GPS stations in southeast Alaska is near a place where both Arctic and Aleutian terns hang out. I try to bring multiple people so that someone can serve as a dedicated tern lookout, but blood still gets shed. The birds also like to perch on the station's solar panels and poop on them.

Years ago, I worked as a bus driver/tour guide in Anchorage, and our bus depot was adjacent to a scrap yard where dozens of these dive-bombers would nest. Every journey in and out of the main office was risky, we all ran holding clipboards over our heads. Kind of neat to see them up close, even so.

Delighted* to confirm the return of the head stabbing bastards to the high north. *not at all delighted

🏔️

I just had a conversation with a British tourist that I can only describe as too posh for his own teeth.

Thought it would be a lovely idea to cycle out about 10km to do some birding. Took a 2kg lens, a packed lunch and a rifle. In summary, please refrain from speaking to me or my quads for the foreseeable future.

We are continuing on our trend of speedrunning the seasons this year. Honestly, I am here for autumn days in June.

S'present. From Max, to Max. 😁

It's not yet summer* but it is beautiful out today

There's a ghost ship on the northernmost horizon ⚓

👀 78°N

What is wrong with my dog 😂

Fox crossing 🚸

Honestly this notification from my robot vacuum cleaner is far funnier than it has any right to be. It sounds so indignant.

Walout haulout At least the walruses are perpetually cooperative 😁