Day five of the Arctic Circle 2024 autumn expedition. When I wake up, SV Antigua is slowly circling Moffen nature reserve, a low lying, flat island at the mouth of Woodfjorden and Wijdefjorden along Spitsbergen’s northern coast. As the sun slowly rises, the sky turns shades of persimmon and salmon, brightening to cotton candy pink and pale gold. Slumbering cuddle puddles of Atlantic walrus dot the snowy shores not far from the gently breaking waves. There is a bit of a swell around the ship but conditions are good for a landing in the zodiacs, so we eagerly assemble on deck after breakfast, pulling on our muck boots and life vests. In the orange glow of the sun we motor over to the island, which is off-limits to humans from May 15 to September 15, when walruses use the reserve to breed. For over 300 years the mammals were hunted to near-extinction, but preservation efforts have been successful, and Moffen is an important part of that success. As we walked along the beach toward the mound of sleeping pinnipeds, curious walruses swam along the shore, their heads popping up every few yards, keeping a watchful eye on us. We kept a respectful distance from the herd but were close enough to smell them, as walruses consume large quantities of clams and crustaceans, and so they must also digest them. Stinky!