Arctic Ocean, Northeast Svalbard
Strong winds from the north had pushed sea ice hard up against the top of Nordaustlandet. Through the night, which still has no darkness, we made our way east, from Hinlopenstretet, round the south and east of the island to meet the edge of the pack ice between Nordaustlandet and the island of Kvitøya. Fog drifted over the icy seascape during the night but cleared to reveal silvery blue, sunlit surroundings by 6am as the day began.
Sharp eyes found what we were looking for amongst the bands of pack ice that surrounded the ship, off in the distance, the tiniest of yellow dots. A polar bear in its magnificent kingdom! A stealthy approach by our ship allowed us to observe this majestic young bear, moving effortlessly amongst the ice floes, bathed in early morning sunshine. A short time later we encountered what the bear was looking for – seals. Not far from where we had seen the bear there was a bearded seal on one ice floe and on another, a female walrus that we were delighted to see was suckling a calf. All these amazing encounters before breakfast!
Jim Fowler, the well known wild life television presenter, talked to guests up in the Lounge about some of his experiences during the early part of the morning as the Captain maneuvered the ship through pack ice and fog. Another bear was encountered, a young, healthy-looking animal with an unusually clean, white coat. Our ship made a slow, gentle approach, skillfully accomplished by our Captain. We were rewarded with views of a bear that was initially totally unconcerned by our presence and then became sufficiently interested in us to wander over to the ship for a closer look before ambling away over the ice.
During the afternoon National Geographic Explorer threaded her way through the pack ice to 81°N in search of more wildlife encounters before turning to start our journey south. Kevin Schafer gave a delightful presentation of photographs from some of his assignments with National Geographic including exquisite pictures of river dolphins from the Amazon, and David Cothran treated us to an informative lecture regarding the geology of Svalbard. The fog closed in around us again as we headed towards Freemundsundet, the passage of water that separates the islands of Barentsøya and Edgeøya which will lead to tomorrow’s destination. There were lively contributions to our evenings recap including a light-hearted song from some of the less than proficient musical staff.
