Little Auks

Apart from the large animals found in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, lives a wide variety of hardy seabirds that thrive in this harsh Arctic climate.

Little Auks are tiny, black and white birds that look like flying billiard balls with whirring wings.  Known as expert swimmers, Little Auks propel themselves with their wings (as opposed to their feet) and can dive to depths of 30m; hunting for crustaceans, fish and zooplankton.  Spending their life at sea, Little Auks only come to land during breeding season. The rocks and crevices of cliff sides provide nesting grounds for colonies that can number in the millions.

Little Auks often fly in large flocks and the coordinated movement and patterns made by these stout, athletic birds was fascinating to watch. The best way to photograph the Little Auk is to approach the cliffs upon which the birds are nesting. It was too dangerous for our small ship to approach the cliffs, so we climbed into our survival suits, disembarked from the ship and approached the cliffs in a small zodiac.

Capturing these birds in flight was especially challenging as our zodiac was tossed around by the seas and then, lines of snow squalls moved in. This was a day of many attempts of capturing these birds with only a few successful images!

Click here to discover more wildlife photography from Canadian visual artist Christine Lundvall.