Arctic Adventure - Day 4

The weather was expected to be about 5 degrees today, so we were all contemplating plenty of layers of clothing as we took breakfast and watched the "bergy-bits" (the official name for small icebergs) floating past us.

Breakfast was interrupted by the shout of  "polar bear" by an eagle-eyed John and our first view of this charismatic creature was made.   He had spotted a mother and two cubs on a nearby island, as the boat slowed down in preparation for our anchoring for the morning, two more bears were spotted by Phil.

Zodiacs are Go!

We were called to a briefing about our morning's excursion and were advised that our plans were being changed (typical of an expedition-type cruise) as the governor of the area had taken the spot we were planning to anchor in.   It had therefore been decided to do a zodiac cruise in the area where the polar bears had been seen and try to get a closer look.   This was also a good spot for grey phalarope.



Mum and two cubs

 The ship returned to the Andoyane Islands a group of low lying islands where we had seen the mother and cubs initially, and the zodiacs were launched amid much excitement.   We had soon caught up with the trio and we spent a long time just enjoying their behaviour as they moved along the island looking for bird eggs and other food potential.   The arctic terns were mobbing the mother who totally ignored them and continued in her quest for food for the cubs.

As we sailed along the islands we saw great skua, eider and king eider using the sea around the land for food and shelter, and a red-throated diver in one of the bays.

As we returned to the ship the rain and sleet started and with low cloud adding to the gloom we returned for a well deserved lunch.



Section of the Monaco Glacier

 During lunch the captain moved the ship further up the fjord and we passed several colonies of kittiwake, fulmar, little auk and black guillemot highlighted on the cliffs by the green lichen and plant growth encouraged by their guano - the rest of the rocks being completely barren.   We stopped at the head of the fjord in front of the monaco glacier - an amazing hunk of glacial geography which took me back to my A level days.  In front of the glacier we also spotted 3 ivory gull flying amongst the glaucous gull and kittiwake.   These beautiful rather delicate gulls are more like doves, it is hard to imagine how they survive in such a harsh environment alongside their rather larger counterparts.  

As we watched in wonder a huge iceberg broke off the main glacier and started to float off down the fjord passed the ship.   Cloud quickly closed in and it started to rain, so it was time to take refuge in the lounge with a nice cup of tea.   The ship turned round and we retraced our journey back down towards the open sea.   On the way we collected some fuel which had been left by a BBC crew when they were filming arctic fox and polar bears for a natural history series.   As we moved towards the sea we spotted a Vega Expeditions vessel - the first one we had seen since leaving Longyearbyen.   On the shore, rather incongruously we noted a small hut with a picnic table on the moraine scree at the base of another nearby glacier.

We continued to cruise for the rest of the afternoon, and then headed off for Moffen Island north of Spitsbergen itself, and a good spot for walrus, as they have a beaching area there.   Unfortunately the walrus had decided on a different resting place on this particular day, the captain however, was keen that we should have something to celebrate (on top of our first polar bears) and continued for the 80 degree north latitude.

After dinner we were all called to don our cold weather gear and meet on deck to toast our northern progress with a shot of vodka - said to be a Norwegian window cleaning fluid!  As we crossed the line the ships bell pealed and we all cheered.   Now it could be the vodka or just pure skill but within minutes of knocking back the shot Phil spotted 6 or 7 walrus in the water, then as we were all watching them a more gregarious chap was spotted close in to the hull of the boat.   As we moved along the site of Moffen Island we spotted more on a beach and telescoped views were possible for most folk - some had already given in to the cold or tiredness by this time.