At Sea in Southeastern Spitsbergen.
Shrouded in often dense fog for most of the morning, we cruised north along the coast of southeast Spitsbergen in search of sea ice, the ideal site for Polar Bears. A number of hours were required to reach the ice edge, hence there was some time to commence our comprehensive seminars at sea, with informative lectures covering the history of whaling and hunting with Natalie and geology with Bob (the latter I missed as with my upcoming charity cycle ride I decided I needed an hours training on the exercise bike - but luckily both Bob and John briefed me on what I had missed!)
Considerable patience and experience is required to spot bears from afar, especially in foggy conditions. These quests can admittedly be rather frustrating and time consuming, but the
ultimate reward may be so great that any earlier frustrations are
quickly forgotten. Ultimately, three large Polar Bears were sighted, the first two near the edge of the undulating 10/10’s
pack-ice. Great skill and dexterity are required for a bear to wander over irregular moving ice, an amazing feat for an animal that can weigh in excess of a half ton. The bears are on the ice
to hunt seals, and several blood-covered floes were seen, indicating earlier kills. Bears average a seal every five days or so, primarily ringed seals, but also harp and bearded seals. In consolidated pack-ice the bears are probably preying mostly on harp seals. The nutritious blubber and skin is favoured, and well fed bears may simply discard the remainder of the seal. However, nothing is wasted because the birds and possibly even another bear will take advantage of the carcass.
Today's picture shows one of the polar bears we saw - great views through binoculars and zoom lens - those without these missed out on the immensity of these animals.
Dmitri’s lecture on the adaptation of Arctic animals to their environment ( to be continued) was interrupted when a bear was seen in the water; it then got out and move quite fast across the land stopping at a patch of snow to roll and blot his fur.
A number of birds were recorded during the course of the morning, including Glaucous Gulls, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Northern Fulmars, Thick-billed Murres (Brunnich’s Guillemots),
Little Auks and Black Guillemots. There were also brief sightings of the elusive Sabine’s and Ivory Gulls.
After dinner another large Polar Bear was encountered, but it was far back from the ice edge and difficult to keep track of. However, three hauled out Atlantic Walrus peacefully reposing
on the ice were great to watch and interrupted. One was young, probably less than five years of age
judging from its tusk size. The other two walrus, while not huge, had impressive ivory tusks. Immense and cumbersome, adult walrus are incapable of lunging up
onto the ice like a seal. Their tusks may be used as ice axes to aid in getting up on the ice; indeed the Inuit name for walrus roughly translates to “he who walks with his teeth”.
The evening finished with a lecture on polar bears, as they were today's main sighting - it finished at 1040 - still lots of light and it didn't feel late.