SPITSBERGEN 6iS 



mentioned above — ^namely, the reindeer, Arctic fox, and Polar 

 bear. None of these is as common as in past years ; they are 

 not frequent in the west, but become more abundant as one 

 goes northwards or eastwards. There are, however, several 

 marine mammals, as well as fish. First in interest are the 

 whales, of which there are several species. The Greenland 

 whale is now rarely seen, owing to the depredations of whalers. 

 The white whale, or beluga, is frequently met with, although 

 less common than formerly. Both these species have at 

 various times supported large and flourishing whaling industries. 

 There are also finner whales of various kinds, as well as dolphins 

 and porpoises. The walrus, once so common, is scarcely ever 

 met with on the west coast, but occurs more frequently in 

 the east. Hunting for profit and sport has played havoc with 

 its numbers. Of seals there are several species, and these, 

 although hunted a great deal, are still quite common. There 

 is one freshwater fish, the Arctic char, closely allied to the 

 salmon ; it is found in a few of the lakes. Of the salt-water 

 fish the cod is the most important. 



Passing now to the lower animals, the deficiency is seen to 

 be even more striking. The insects are very poorly represented : 

 not only this, but to find them careful search is necessary. 

 There are no butterflies, and but two species of moths have 

 yet been discovered. Bees and wasps are absent, although 

 there are many suitable flowers. On a fine sunny day, flies- — 

 not the ordinary house variety — come out in numbers ; they 

 may be seen on the flowers of the purple saxifrage. Otherwise, 

 flying insects are practically non-existent. Ground animals are 

 rather more common. On turning stones, especially on a 

 sunny day, spiders, mites, springtails, and perhaps a beetle, 

 can be found. Ants are conspicuous by their absence. Small 

 round worms — nematodes — inhabit the soil ; of earthworms 

 there are none, neither are there slugs nor snails. This scarcity 

 is probably to be correlated with the frozen state of the ground 

 during the greater part of the year. Even in summer there is 

 ground ice at no great depth. 



In the case of freshwater animals conditions are more 

 favourable. A comparatively abundant fauna — as regards 

 numbers — is to be found in the pools, especially in those of 

 a permanent character. Very interesting results are expected 

 from the study of the freshwater fauna carried out by the 

 Oxford University Expedition. In the sea Crustacea and 

 Mollusca are fairly well represented. Here conditions are not 

 so extreme as on the land, the variation in the temperature of 

 the water being comparatively small. 



When one turns to the plants, however, a rather different 

 aspect is revealed. Among the animals, birds constitute the 

 40 



