Svalbard - a hungry polar bear and a fancy dress party (Throwback post)

Ivory Gull, Brepollen, Svalbard

Thursday saw us out on the zodiacs in the aptly named Brepollen (glacier bay).


The bay was beautiful, and we could easily have just spent the time admiring the view, with the little bergs, the ice calving off the edge, and the birds - including the squabbling arctic terns and the snowy white ivory gulls that got our birding contingent so excited again.

Brepollen, Svalbard

Brepollen, Svalbard

Brepollen, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Brepollen, Svalbard

However, our attention was quickly diverted by the sighting of a polar bear on the ice floes. Whilst we were thrilled to see another bear, we were also rather sad to see the state that this one was in.

His coat was dirty, likely from having made a long walk across land, but more importantly, he was very thin and seemed to be injured. He avoided putting one of his paws down, and was regularly licking it, so we assume that it was hurting him somehow.

Polar Bear, Brepollen, Svalbard

It is very sad to watch a creature like this, and not be able to do anything to help. I know that we have to not interfere, but I think many of us would happily have given up some of our dinner that night to give this poor bear a much needed meal. All we can do is hope that he managed to catch something soon, and that his injury healed.

Of course this harsher side of nature is inevitable, but it does seem so much worse when we know that our actions as humans are impacting on the bears' environment, and therefore their feeding grounds. I think that most of us left with a renewed sense that we must do our bit to help reduce climate change.

Brepollen, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Brepollen, Svalbard

Gnalodden, Svalbard

In the afternoon, we landed at Gnalodden, which was a great landing site, as it had a bit of everything.

There was a huge great cliff with more nesting birds, there was an unusual amount of moss and flora, there was a nice little bay (where those who felt so inclined did their polar plunge), and there was an old trapper's hut.

Wanny Woldstad's cabin, Gnalodden, Svalbard

The hut has been used by many people over the years, but its most famous resident was Wanny Woldstad. Wanny was a taxi driver in Tromso, but in 1932 she met and married a man named Anders Saeterdal, and came with him to Svalbard to live as a trapper.

he was the first female trapper to overwinter out here, and she later wrote a book about her experiences over the five years she was here.

Wanny Woldstad's cabin, Gnalodden, Svalbard

Gnalodden, Svalbard

Gnalodden, Svalbard

Still wearing the fancy dress 'beaks', Svalbard

In the evening, it was party time, complete with a fancy dress competition, with an arctic theme. Some of our fellow passengers had been aware of this event before the trip and had come prepared; we didn't know about it, so had to improvise.

Luckily, the sheets and towels in our cabins were all white, and we were able to beg and borrow some red card, scissors and sellotape. The five of us used the card to make ourselves red beaks, and together with white sheets for bodies, white towels for wings and black hats - or in Nic's case black pants - on our heads, we transformed ourselves into arctic terns.

Realising that our costumes weren't exactly fantastic, we decided to inject a bit of humour into the situation. We added to our costumes a clock, a hastily made joke book and halos, and introduced ourselves as an Arctic Tern, Tern Back Time, A Funny Tern, a Good Tern, and another Good Tern, because after all, one Good Tern deserves another! People seemed to like it, and we managed to get second place.

The rest of the evening was spent listening to the ship's staff band, and various passengers who also fancied a singalong.

Swimming polar bear, Svalbard

Friday was our last full day aboard, mostly spent wending our way along the coastline back to Longyearbyen, where we would anchor for the night before disembarking on Saturday morning.

We weren't really expecting to see very much, so we were quite happy to spot some reindeer on the hills, and then one last polar bear. The polar bear walked quite some distance along the shore line and then got into the sea and started swimming along.

Swimming polar bear, Svalbard

Swimming polar bear, Svalbard

Swimming polar bear, Svalbard

Reindeer, Svalbard

Spot the polar bear, Svalbard (right on the shore line, in the middle)

When we reached Longyearbyen, the Greenpeace ship Esperanza was in port, where it was protesting about climate change and against oil drilling in the Barents Sea. Apparently Emma Thompson was on board, supporting them. We did wonder whether we might be about to witness some trouble, as there was also a military looking ship there, but this Kystvakt turned out just to be the Norwegian Coastguard, so all was well.

Last night on ship, Svalbard

Longyearbyen, Svalbard

Longyearbyen, Svalbard

Greenpeace ship Esperanza, Longyearbyen, Svalbard

Longyearbyen, Svalbard

Svalbard - a curious polar bear (Throwback post)

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Sunday would turn out to be the real highlight of our trip, with a fabulous sighting of a polar bear. This was our day for cruising along the edge of the pack ice, in the hope of finding a polar bear amongst the floes, for that classic polar bear on the ice opportunity.

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Nic sadly wasn't feeling too good, but he hung on in there; after all, you don't want to come all this way and then miss seeing what you came for.


We started off with some harp seals that were having great fun diving around in the water, and of course the usual multitude of sea birds, and then suddenly the shout went up that a bear had been spotted on the ice in the distance.

Polar Bear, Svalbard

The captain gradually moved us in to where it was sleeping on the ice, careful to push his way through the floes without disturbing the bear.

It was slow going, but eventually we pulled up close enough to get a fantastic view of the huge creature. Because it was lying down, you could get a really good look at its enormous paws.

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Unfortunately, at this point, Nic
reached the stage where mind over matter was no longer good enough, and he had to give in and return to the cabin.

At least he had seen the bear, and at this stage, being disappointed not to spend longer watching it was not his main concern.

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Svalbard

I stayed on deck, and eventually, the bear decided that it was time to get up and see what was going on. It was inquisitive enough to some right up to the side of the ship and take a sniff. Needless to say, the cameras were working overtime.

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Svalbard

The bear hung around us for quite a while. At one point it did a wee, and we weren't sure whether perhaps this was meant as a message to us for interrupting its sleep.













After some time, it started to wander a little further away, and the expedition team decided that it was probably time to give the bear back its peace and quiet.

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Polar Bear from the cabin window, Svalbard

I went down to the cabin to check on Nic, and was pleased to find that the worst had passed, and he was feeling a little better.

It occurred to me that the bear was probably on the same side of the ship as our cabin, so he may be able to see it out of the porthole. Sure enough, we took a look, and there was the bear, not far away at all.

Polar Bear from the cabin window, Svalbard

So Nic managed to see the bear from the cabin, and it obligingly came even closer, before heading off across the ice.

Polar Bear from the cabin window, Svalbardcaption

I especially liked watching it jumping from one piece of ice to the next; they look like such lumbering creatures, but they really are quite agile and very fast.

The second, disappearing polar bear, Svalbard

We did spot one more bear later, but it disappeared into the water before we could get close - I just have a photo of its bum as it jumped in.

All in all, even despite Nic not feeling well, today was a good day, and we were all thrilled with our polar bear encounter.

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Polar Bear, Svalbard

Svalbard: Walrus, whales and distant white bears (Throwback post)

MS Expedition leaving Longyearbyen

We boarded the MS Expedition and set sail on the Wednesday evening, and having dealt with all of the practical stuff like safety briefings, evacuation drills and getting our waterproof jackets and wellies sorted out, we could get on with the important business of looking for polar bears.

Midnight sun

Of course for the first evening, the only ones that we found were those on the ring-pulls of the Mack Isbjorn (polar bear) pilsner. It is easy to stay up later than you intended to, as it doesn't get dark here in the Land of the Midnight Sun

Magdalenafjord, Svalbard

The next day, we sailed up around the Magdalenefjord to Trygghamna, which is an old whaling station. If you know what you are looking for, you can see the evidence of the station today, with the remains of blubber ovens and the graves of long dead whalers.

While the historical aspect here was interesting, and our on-board historian Paul was very knowledgeable, I have to admit that I was more interested in the scenery, with the black granite mountains and the icy glaciers.

Trygghamna, Svalbard

Svalbard

Walrus, Svalbard

Walrus, Svalbard

Back in the zodiacs, we headed to a nearby beach where a group of Atlantic walrus were hauled out. It was great to watch these huge creatures shuffling around, quite carelessly flopping over on top of each other, with only the occasional spat as a result.

Walrus, Svalbard

Walrus, Svalbard

Nic, Svalbard

First polar bear sighting, mother and cub, Svalbard

On board the ship, we enjoyed a Captain's Welcome cocktail, before rushing to the decks to catch sight of our first polar bears. They were some distance away on the land, but when there is no guarantee that you will see any (it does happen occasionally), even a long distance bear is exciting.

This was a mother and her cub. The mother had a collar on, so was obviously being tracked, but she didn't seem bothered by it. We watched them for a while, before setting off again.

Svalbard

The next morning, we had reached 80 degrees north and were cruising through the ice. Today we spotted harp seals, a fin whale, a couple of blue whales, more walrus, two bearded seals, and a couple of polar bears that were some distance away - we had some difficulty distinguishing them from the boulders - until they moved, which is always a good clue!

Bearded seal, Svalbard

Bearded seal, Svalbard

Fin whale, Svalbard

Blue whale, Svalbard

Blue whale, Svalbard

Harp seal, Svalbard

Walrus, Svalbard

Polar bear, Svalbard (right in the middle of the photo)

But it was the second bearded seal that unwittingly caused the most excitement and trouble today. It was spotted from quite a distance, and that far away, it appeared just possible that, rather than a bearded seal, it was a hooded seal, which are only very seldom seen here.

Whilst we all knew it was unlikely, given that this was potentially rare sighting, passengers and expedition team alike were all keen to take a look, and the captain happily changed course to take us there.

The only person that wasn't happy, was our expedition leader, who was more interested in getting us to go inside for the scheduled briefing. The expedition team delayed as long as they could, but eventually had to do as they were told; we passengers had no such qualms, and ignored him. Of course it turned out just to be the bearded seal, but that really wasn't the point.

Bearded seal, Svalbard

With our detour over, and reports coming in of the Hinlopenstretet becoming potentially impassable, the captain set off to get us there as soon as possible. We needed to pass through the strait if we were to achieve the planned circumnavigation, and get to the uninhabited eastern side of the island where the polar bears are more prevalent. He and his crew did a good job, and we woke in the morning to find that we had made it through.


Our first excursion on the east side was a zodiac trip over to the basalt cliffs of Alkefjellet. The cliffs are quite stunning in themselves, and there are plenty of kittwakes to be seen, but the real attraction of this place is the huge colony of 60,000 Brunnich's guillemots, (also known as thick billed murres,) that are nesting here. In particular, this is the time when thousands of fledglings leave the cliff face and drop to the water. I say drop, because that is exactly what they do; they leave the nesting area before they can actually fly, so they literally have to glide down to the water, where the male is waiting for them.

Brunnich's guillemots, Alkefjellet, Svalbard

During this drop, they are entirely defenceless, and the glaucous gulls are out in force to try to snatch them out of the air as they fall. We saw quite a few being taken like this, as well as some that were scooped out of the water despite the efforts of the father to protect it.

Even for non-birders like us, this was fascinating to watch, although I would recommend wearing a hat, as with all those birds around, it is inevitable that someone is going to get pooped on. Thankfully, it wasn't our turn today.

Brunnich's guillemots, Alkefjellet, Svalbard

Glaucous gull taking fledgling Brunnich's guillemot, Alkefjellet, Svalbard

Glaucous gull taking fledgling Brunnich's guillemot, Alkefjellet, Svalbard

Brunnich's guillemots, Alkefjellet, Svalbard

Brunnich's guillemots, Alkefjellet, Svalbard

Arctic fox, Alkefjellet, Svalbard

Of course the gulls aren't the only danger. With all of these young birds around, the arctic foxes prowl the cliffs in the hope of catching themselves a meal too. We saw a few stalking the birds.

Polar bear, Svalbard

Watching the polar bear, Svalbard

After lunch, we sailed to Torelineset on Nordauslandet, with a plan was to make a landing on the beach where a big group of walrus haul out. However the scouting group spotted a polar bear on the land, which meant going ashore was out of the question.

Not that everyone in the group understood this. We heard a few people complaining that they had come to see polar bears so why not go ashore.


It had to be explained to them that polar bears are dangerous animals, and as such it is best to keep well out of their way.

The expedition team carry rifles when we are on land, as a last resort if a bear did attack a person, but neither they nor us would want to see a bear be shot, especially when the contact could have been avoided.

Walrus , Svalbard

Instead of landing, the zodiacs took us close to the shoreline so that we could see the bear, which was sleeping a little way inland, and then along the beach to where the walrus were. After we were back on ship, the lazy bear finally roused itself from its snowy bed, and wandered along the beach to the walrus. It seemed to consider the possibility of trying to catch a meal, but thought better of it and wandered away again.

Walrus , Svalbard

Walrus , Svalbard

Polar bear, Svalbard