Exploring the surroundings in Moskenes…our new summer home

After a long but wonderful journey crossing from Bodø to Moskenes, we are finally here! Surrounded by the stunning nature of Lofoten archipelago, where the sea meets the mountains, it is enough to take your breath away.

We spotted this lookout point from our house and we improvised a late evening hike to get there. We tried a few different paths, but we finally made it! Nighttime or daytime is not relevant in this part of the world  during the summer period, as you probably know the sun does not set for months. It's bright throughout the 24 hours as the sun is above the horizon all the time. If it is 3 am or 3 pm doesn’t really matter, the only difference is that the sun is either to the northeast or the southwest. This photo was taken at 10 pm, awesome, hey?!

Only dinner could have stopped us from starting a hike so late, but the enthusiasm to explore the area and the excitement to eventually spot some marine mammals from the top of the hill definitely took over. So armed with cameras and binoculars we started to make our way to the tower.

As you can see, this is the magnificent view we got once we reached the top of the hill. This is Sørvågen, one the villages of Moskenes; the other two villages are Hamnøy and Å. Moskenes is a municipality in the Nordland province of Norway, that includes part of the island of Moskenesøya in the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Reine.

In this video shows the extraordinary beauty of the landscapes that enclose us, with impressive alpine mountain peaks, most of which are 2.5 billion years old, and the Norwegian sea fjords making it a breath-taking scenery. Also some nice music from someone playing in the distance.

Pretty unique scenery to do our fieldwork season 2020, we are so excited to be here for the next few months.

And here they are! The first two research assistants that have joined the Ocean Sounds’ team. Ready for action, to collect visual and acoustic data on marine mammals during this summer field work. Stay tuned!