PolarQuest’s guides are blogging from M/S Quest.
In the middle of the night Adam woke us up with good news, he had spotted a blue whale! This rare whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on earth. Most of us jumped out of bed wand were rewarded by a good look of the impressive animal. This whale sighting turned out to be the beginning of another day full of luck. While eating breakfast a polar bear came to have a look what smelled so delicious. It stayed in the vicinity and we started with cruising along the pack ice towards the bear which came again curious towards us. After a while something on the beach was more interesting and we continued the cruise towards the walruses along the corner of Purchasneset.
The landing on an empty haul out beach welcomed us with the smell of them so we could get used to it, when coming close to the animals. If it was of the cold or from the smell that the wind blew right in our faces is not sure but everybody went after a short visit to the animals for a walk. We passed the Pomor’s grave, talked about biology and geology and found a walrus skeleton on the beach. Impressive to see how big the bones from these huge animals become.
Later we sailed North to the Sjuoyane but along the way we spotted a polar bear with a fresh kill, well that’s already very interesting, but it became even more special when a second bear showed up. This young female was of no threat to the huge male whom had killed the bearded seal, but it took him some time to realise that he was so full of food that she could have something as well. So after three hours of excitement we sailed along content with this happy ending.
