The walrus, a group of maybe six, were lying on the floe. We got quite close before they slid into the water. Not quite as impressive as the walrus colony in Hudson Bay, but still a box to tick, as we never saw any walrus the last time we were cruising around Svalbard!!
We went down and had breakfast with a couple from South
Africa, John and Beth, and were joined by Eugene and Jurate.
I decided not to go to Will Wagstaff's lecture on
birds. We can't believe the weather, not a
cloud in the sky and virtually no wind. How long will this last?
Enjoying the sunshine on the aft deck. Life is hard!!
We cruised through a very narrow channel between two of the
islands, passing this flat-topped island, a result of glaciation from the last ice age.
We soon came to large areas of sea ice.
Almost immediately, we had an announcement from Kit that there was a bear on the ice!
Getting deeper and deeper into the pack ice, on our way towards the bear.
The bear was miles away and could hardly be seen. The captain decided to plough through the ice to get nearer and we were able to take some long distance photos of the lone bear on the ice. The front of deck 4 was opened, so that we could see as well as possible. With binoculars, the bear was clearly visible, as she walked over the ice waiting for seals to pop up.
We soon came to large areas of sea ice.
Almost immediately, we had an announcement from Kit that there was a bear on the ice!
Getting deeper and deeper into the pack ice, on our way towards the bear.
The bear was miles away and could hardly be seen. The captain decided to plough through the ice to get nearer and we were able to take some long distance photos of the lone bear on the ice. The front of deck 4 was opened, so that we could see as well as possible. With binoculars, the bear was clearly visible, as she walked over the ice waiting for seals to pop up.
The lone female bear hunting on the ice
When the time came for us to move, the ship was stuck in the ice.
Looking back at our path through the ice
We decided to have lunch while the ship went back and forth trying to free itself.
Reversing out of the ice
It took a couple of hours finally to make an exit from the ice and we headed around the pack ice to get a closer view of the bear. On the way, we were told that another bear had been sighted by a nearby ship, so we went there instead. While we were sailing there, we had tea in the lounge with Eric and Marcee and their son Nick, from Seattle.
The second bear was lying on a small ice floe,
occasionally moving his head and stretching his legs. It was a large male that appeared to
have blood on his face from a recent kill.
We spent some time taking photos and then I went back to the cabin for a nap. Wendy stayed on deck and took more photos as the bear moved around the ice. Silver Explorer had sailed to 80º 56", the farthest north the ship has been this season. Wendy felt really cold outside on Deck 4, so she came down to the cabin and was pleased to discover the bear moving closer to our window. She got some good photos through the window, then woke me up to watch the bear walking away again.
We spent some time taking photos and then I went back to the cabin for a nap. Wendy stayed on deck and took more photos as the bear moved around the ice. Silver Explorer had sailed to 80º 56", the farthest north the ship has been this season. Wendy felt really cold outside on Deck 4, so she came down to the cabin and was pleased to discover the bear moving closer to our window. She got some good photos through the window, then woke me up to watch the bear walking away again.
We had the evening briefing with contributions from Danny on blue whales, from Luke about walrus and Kit about the polar bear. We then had
dinner with Pauline and Jan and also Tim and Jo from Berkeley, California. He is a retired humanities
professor. We had a great time and agreed to meet again tomorrow night for a "Hot Rocks" dinner on the aft deck.
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