The National Geographic Explorer edged its way slowly through the pack ice in the early hours of this morning as we made our way along the east side of Spitsbergen. The largest landmass in the archipelago that makes up the far northern claim of Norway, Spitsbergen is home to a huge amount of wildlife.
We were woken up a few minutes before our scheduled wake-up call by our expedition leader, Brent, announcing over the intercom that we were sneaking up on a couple of walruses which had hauled out on the ice floe. Guests, crew, and staff quietly stumbled out onto the bow, bracing themselves against the chilly arctic air. The giant mass of blubber that slowly grew larger and larger in our binoculars, scopes, and viewfinders at first hardly seemed to be alive, but with the careful and skillful navigation of chief officer Aaron Wood, the ship drew closer to the animals. With hushed voices, the dreariness evaporated and a quite awe took over us as we watched the two animals lie on the ice, occasionally lifting an inquisitive nose into the air, wondering what the strange smell of bacon and eggs wafting from the galley might be.
In the afternoon we went looking for wildlife in the area and saw some amazing scenes of ice cathedrals that were as tall as the ship. The land of ice is a confusing and dizzying place, an ever-changing landscape that roars with a silent symphony in all shapes and textures. Trying to spot a polar bear against an all-white landscape is a formidable task. The polar bear has evolved and become the top predator in this landscape by being able to camouflage with their landscape, but lo and behold we found at least six of them in one area! In a distant bay, locked in with fast ice, were distant bears who were going about their business of fattening themselves up for a long winter on the ice. We also saw bearded and ringed seals, hauled out on the ice.
After a wonderful lunch we continued pushing north along the east side of Spitsbergen, listening to educational lectures from the natural history staff along the way, and always keeping a sharp lookout for wildlife. After dinner came the third call for wildlife – it was another polar bear. But this time, it was nothing like the pixel sized bears from lunch!
The clouds from earlier had cleared and bright sunshine shone down across the decks as we piled outside to take a look. And what a look it was! We were witness to an amazing display from a large adult bear, walking along the sea ice. We silently crept along keeping pace with it, careful not to make any sudden noises and were treated to a full display of our bear jumping across pools, rolling in the snow and pausing, dramatically over the still water with its splendid reflection below. Once again, a fantastic afte- dinner treat owed to the bridge team for their remarkable navigation and spotting skills.
