July 2 – Our first Polar Bear
This was a day in the true Arctic pack ice. In our quest for the King of the Arctic – the Polar Bear, we decided to spend the whole day zig-zagging in the maze of drifting sea ice. Adam spend hours in the crow’s nest with his binos glued to his frozen face in order to spot the little yellow dots in the distance and eventually it paid off.
Later in the afternoon we spotted our first polar bear on the drifting ice. This is where they prefer to be, where they can find their favourite prey – seals. We also spotted several of those. Greenland seals porpoising like dolphins and here and there the odd Ringed Seal and Bearded Seal, all part of the polar bear’s menu.
We also managed to do the shortest zodiac ride in history as the ice drifted much faster than anticipated, but we still had the time to do a short walk on the ice in front of the ship before it was time to return. Our sleepy polar bear that we had been watching for a while had started to move and we knew that we would stand better, and safer, chances of seeing him up close from the ship. In the evening we found even more polar bears and we decided to park the ship in the pack ice to see what would happen.
The king of the Arctic
July 4 – Alkefjellet – Bråsvellbreen
We had sailed through the night into the Hinlopen Strait that divides the two main islands in the archipelago and now we had reached the Alkefjellet bird cliff. We marvelled over the sheer mass of sea birds, most of them Brünnich’s Guillemots – approximately 250 000 of them – but we also spotted the odd Kittiwake and Glacous Gull. Then we proceeded to the opposite side of the strait to the Torellneset point. Here we paid a visit to the local walrus colony. What a sight! But perhaps more impressive was the close encounter with these one-and-a-half-ton animals at the shoreline. Ulrika will never forget the feeling of being sized up by one of these Arctic icons from just a few meters distance. A long awaited hike led us into the barren arctic landscape where we stumbled across the remains of a young polar bear.
Onboard we later sailed for the third largest fresh water ice mass on the planet – the Austfonna Ice Dome and the Bråsvellbreen glacier front. We followed this amazing formation from the south and finally we ended up in the Vibebukta Bay. Here we intended to spend the night close to the fast ice…
Torellneset
July 9 – Prins Karl’s Forland
Our journey was coming to an end, but not just yet. We still had time for one more adventure, so we landed at the northernmost tip of the Prins Karl’s Forland – the westernmost island in the archipelago. This is a beautiful landing with the high bird cliffs towering above the tundra we walked. Lots of arctic flowers were to be found since the climate is more benign here on the west coast than the eastern parts where we had been.
The local Harbour Seals where also there to say hello before we returned to the ship and continued south. Time was running short so we used the rest of the day to steam south towards Longyearbyen and civilisation, but first we were treated with Kjell’s final dinner, which included an outdoor show of dessert cooking with some dubious ingredients.
Prins Karl’s Forland
Best Regards Adam Rheborg
