Lisa G Saw • July 21, 2016

Polar Bears in the Arctic

At sea on a photographic adventure around the Svalbard Archipelago

Norway 2016

In July 2016 I went on an amazing 14 day Polar Bear Photographic Expedition to Svalbard, Norway with Paul Goldstein and One Ocean Expeditions and one of my friends. This truly was a once in a lifetime, memorable experience and didn't disappoint! Paul had said in his email to us just before the trip, get plenty of sleep before you come! We would have 24 hours of daylight and the plan was to use as much of it as possible!

We had two days of travelling to get to/from Longyearbyen, Svalbard – the most northerly permanent populated town in the world. They were not the best two experiences I’ve had and I wouldn’t recommend Scandinavian Airlines or Oslo Airport as a result, however, we got there eventually via Oslo and Tromso.

We had a brief walk around Longyearbyen on arrival (and longer on our return). I was not expecting it to be 12°C! (By the way, at this point we were 3,043km from London). There isn’t much to the old mining town; a museum, art gallery and a few shops and cafés, pretty much all along one main street. On the return leg we did enjoy a lovely walk along the shoreline, spotting lots of birds and enjoying some amazing reflections of the mountains in the water. Since it was summer, cars were seen on the roads, but you could tell this was a different place during winter by the sheer volume of snow mobiles parked on the grass.

We had a brief walk around Longyearbyen on arrival (longer on our return). I wasn't expecting it to be 12°C! (By the way, we were 3,043km from London). There isn’t much to the old mining town; a museum, art gallery and a few shops and cafés, pretty much all along one main street. On the return leg we enjoyed a lovely walk along the shoreline, spotting lots of birds and enjoying some amazing reflections of the mountains in the water. Since it was summer, cars were seen on the roads, but you could tell this was a different place during winter by the sheer volume of snow mobiles parked on the grass.

To board the Vavilov we had to travel out in groups of 10 on the inflatable zodiacs, which would later be used for our daytime excursions whilst at sea. This heightened our excitement for the trip. In reality, for a good couple of days, everything felt really surreal. I couldn’t believe I was actually there after a year and a half of waiting! We were to spend 10 full days at sea and this ship was fabulous. We had a great cabin on Deck 4 right in the centre of the boat, which meant everything was quick and easy to access, as we were nearest the stairs. We could walk along the corridor and be straight out on the bow of the ship, which was fabulous for our wildlife sightings, it was down to Deck 3 for the dining room, mud room - in preparation for our zodiac trips - and the stearn of the ship. It was up to Deck 6 for the bar/lounge, bridge and upper outdoor viewing decks, where I spent the majority of my time. Our cabin was cosy with 2 beds, a desk, plenty of storage space and a private toilet and shower wet room. They provided dressing gowns, towels, shampoo and conditioner etc, tissues, tea/coffee and kettle, binoculars and a wildlife reference book along with gumboots, waterproof bag and wet weather gear!

The weather was much milder than I’d expected (all part of the climate change problem however) and not very windy, which was good news for me as the seas weren’t too rough. We had a full day at sea on the first Monday and I did suffer a little from seasickness, but managed to sleep it off for a few hours in the afternoon. Towards the end of the trip it got rough again but I still was able to survive without taking any of the medication I’d brought with me! The worst place was going up or down the stairs in the centre of the boat, without any windows! One evening when we were in the bar, the lilt and sway of the boat meant I couldn’t walk in a straight line from the bar to the table, making it look as though I was very drunk! An added challenge when trying to carefully carry two drinks back without spilling them! (As an aside, when we landed back in Longyearbyen after the trip, I did feel like I was still at sea and had quite a few moments when I felt wobbly on my feet! A very strange experience!)

The weather was milder than I’d expected and not too windy, which meant the seas weren’t too rough. On the first full day at sea I suffered a little from seasickness, but managed to sleep it off in the afternoon. Only towards the end of the trip did it get rough again, but I survived without taking any medication! One evening, when we were in the bar, the lilt and sway of the boat meant I couldn’t walk in a straight line from the bar to my table - I must've looked drunk, especially trying to carry two drinks! Weirdly, when we were back on terra firma, I felt like I was still at sea and had quite a few moments when I felt wobbly on my feet! A very strange experience!

Food was plentiful, regular and pretty good so we were never going to go hungry! We always had 3 choices of main course at dinner and lots of varied desserts. We even had tea late in the afternoon. My friend and I made a point of sitting at a different table at each mealtime, talking to different people, which was great. Virtually everyone was friendly and mingled and it was nice to meet likeminded travellers. In fact, meal times were sometimes how we knew what time of day it was because the sun was always up! I have to say I really enjoyed this aspect. In the evening when we would come back to our room after dinner there was always a chocolate on our pillow, the curtains had been drawn and the low lights over our beds were on instead of the main light and this was how they tried to prepare you for sleep!

We managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep most nights but we did have early morning wake up calls sometimes 5.30 or 6am for some of the zodiac excursions to make the most of the day. We were also woken up if there were interesting wildlife sightings and this did happen! We'd headed up along the west coast of Spitsbergen and beyond the islands to reach the pack ice, which had retreated to 81°N that year (because it was a very mild winter, the Arctic sea ice wintertime extent reached a record low, the second year in a row). We had travelled further north than I was expecting and we were just over 100miles away from the North Pole! One of my main concerns about the trip was whether or not we'd actually see a polar bear! With wildlife, there are no guarantees! But, within one hour of reaching the pack ice, at 5.15 in the morning we were woken a little earlier than planned - the first polar bear had been spotted!

We managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep most nights but we did have early morning wake up calls sometimes 5.30 or 6am for some of the zodiac excursions to make the most of the day. We were also woken up if there were interesting wildlife sightings and this did happen! We'd headed up along the west coast of Spitsbergen and beyond the islands to reach the pack ice, which had retreated to 81°N that year (because it was a very mild winter, the Arctic sea ice wintertime extent reached a record low, the second year in a row). We had travelled further north than I was expecting and we were just over 100miles away from the North Pole! One of my main concerns about the trip was whether or not we'd actually see a polar bear! There are no guarantees with wildlife! But, within one hour of reaching the pack ice, at 5.15 in the morning we were woken a little earlier than planned - the first polar bear had been spotted!

I ought to mention how fabulous the One Ocean Expedition staff were. They were on constant vigil looking out for the wildlife, taking shifts and swapping over, so even through the night (remember it’s still light) they were glued to their binoculars and telescopes. They were all so knowledgeable in their field and we had several talks during the course of our trip. They would sit with us during the meals and get to know us and vice versa and they were so friendly and helpful. A truly brilliant staff, so much so I’d travel on this ship with this company again.

Back to the bears…yes we saw lots of them…I think we saw about 10, but to be honest we kind of lost count! How crazy is that. Each encounter was different and sometimes better than the one before. You never forget your first sighting and it was special. This cream coloured bear was sleeping on a small ice floe in the distance. As we neared him he could smell us and he popped his head up, then stood up. I don’t know how many minutes or hours we were watching him, we were all mesmerized. He had a little walk, took another nap, jumped over a few ice floes and eventually swam away. We got to see bears feeding (not hunting) covering their food in ice (something rarely witnessed) rolling around in the ice trying to cool down, grooming (they’re very clean animals) yawning, sticking out it’s tongue (it uses it for smell), and swimming, then shaking off the water afterwards. We even got to see polar bears at the same time, when a younger female had smelt a seal from miles away.

We got to see bears feeding (not hunting) covering their food in ice (something rarely witnessed) rolling around in the ice trying to cool down, grooming (they’re very clean animals) yawning, sticking out it’s tongue (it uses it for smell), and swimming, then shaking off the water afterwards. We even got to see polar bears at the same time, when a younger female had smelt a seal from miles away. Their story played out over several hours.

Polar bears will scavenge dead carcasses. The young female was definitely hungry, but the big male wasn't finished. We witness the female’s submissive behaviour, trying to approach, then backing away, lying down low. She must have been desperately hungry because she didn’t wait until the male had finished to try and approach again, jumping from floe to floe until they were eventually on the same one. But, there is a hierarchy (it wouldn’t have turned out so well for her if she had challenged him) and she had to wait until the male had finally finished eating all the blubber it could get before slipping into the water allowing the female to rush over and eat whatever left overs she could.

We witnessed the female’s submissive behaviour (there is a hierarchy), trying to approach the larger male, then backing away, lying down low. She must've been desperately hungry because she didn’t wait until he'd finished before approaching again, jumping from floe to floe until they were eventually on the same one. But, she didn't challenge him, she simply waited until the male had finished eating all the blubber and he'd slipped into the sea, allowing the female to rush over and eat whatever left overs she could scavenge.

Some of the bears were very inquisitive and came towards the ship to sniff us out (they don’t have good eye sight) and the very last one we saw walked to within 2m of the ship, along the side of the hull and then around the bow. With all 93 of us, plus staff and crew, scrambling to get a good look at this young female, we were in awe of how close we were to her (about 5m). I never thought I would have a photo where the bear filled the frame. This was the most wonderful lasting memory I have of the polar bears and this trip.

The captain and his crew were amazing at manoeuvring the ship in the pack ice. The Vavilov is extremely well stabilized (great for rough waters) and very quiet, so in stealth like movements we inched forward, so as not to scare the polar bears. Of course, with the unpredictability of the wildlife sightings this meant mealtimes were often moved around, which you could imagine was a real pain for the kitchen staff, but they did a fabulous job. One time lunch was about 3pm I seem to recall. Another time we ate our main course at dinner, then headed out to see an approaching polar bear, and later we had time to go back for dessert. Admittedly, many either forgot or couldn’t tear themselves away from the bear! On the evening of the two bears that came close to each other, we ended up having our dinner as a bbq outside on the deck!

The captain and his crew were amazing at manoeuvring the ship in the pack ice. The Vavilov is extremely well stabilized (great for rough waters) and very quiet, so in stealth like movements we inched forward, so as not to scare the polar bears, like when we approached our first polar bear. Of course, with the unpredictability of the wildlife sightings, sometimes mealtimes had to be moved around, which you could imagine was a real pain for the kitchen staff, but they did a fabulous job.

One time lunch was about 3pm I seem to recall. Another time we ate our main course at dinner, then headed out to see an approaching polar bear, and later we had time to go back for dessert. Admittedly, many either forgot or couldn’t tear themselves away from the bear! On the evening of the two bears that came close to each other, we ended up having our dinner as a bbq outside on the deck!

Although polar bears were the main focus for our voyage (we spent 4 days in total up at the pack ice looking for them) we also saw lots of other wildlife. There were countless bird sightings (Little Auks, Arctic Terns, Fulmars, Guillemots, Ivory Gulls, Glaucous Gulls and Puffins) though the massive seabird colony at Alkefjellet was particularly impressive with towering cliffs that loomed over the water. The sight, sound and smell of millions of seabirds was unforgettable. I was ecstatic to see my first ever Atlantic Puffin out at sea, early one morning, especially as it was flying above a Bowhead Whale just at the point when water expelled through its blow hole. Even the fact we saw two of these whales was amazing because they're rare - only 10 had been spotted in those waters due to over hunting - and even the staff were thrilled. Whilst we were enjoying that, a Blue Whale was spotted further away in another direction. I didn't know where to look! Aside from these two species, we also saw Minke and Beluga whales, plus several seals lying on ice floes (though none were especially close) and, on one of our landings, there were reindeer grazing. Other people saw a female Arctic Fox and her three cubs on that excursion, which sadly I didn't see, but there was another adult seen high up on the cliffs at the seabird colony, which was unexpected.

I was ecstatic to see my first ever Atlantic Puffin out at sea, early one morning, especially as it was flying above a Bowhead Whale just at the point when water expelled through its blow hole. Even seeing the whales was amazing because they're rare in these parts due to over hunting. Even the staff were thrilled! It didn't end there! Whilst we were watching the Bowhead Whales swim alongside us in tandem, periodically resurphacing and leaving a trail of 'footprints' in the water (still circles of water), a Blue Whale was spotted further away in another direction. I didn't know where to look!

Aside from these two species, we also saw Minke and Beluga whales, plus several seals lying on ice floes (though none were especially close) and, on one of our landings, there were reindeer grazing. Other people saw a female Arctic Fox and her three cubs on that excursion, which sadly I didn't see, but there was another adult seen high up on the cliffs at the seabird colony, which was unexpected.

But the trip wasn’t all about the wildlife. The landscape was also dramatic and beautiful and this was part of the reason why we wanted to come to Norway to view the polar bears. The islands were very mountainous and we saw so many glaciers (I’ve never seen so many – sadly all of course retreating due to global warming). There were lots of icebergs floating in the water near the glaciers. We didn’t witness any calving but saw a few ‘bits’ dropping off and splashing into the water. We managed to do some landings on the islands, which was a great opportunity to properly stretch our legs. Some of the rocks were covered in lichen, showing the first signs of life where the ice had retreated. It was also amazing to see tiny flowers growing on the barren looking land. In it’s own way the pack ice and the melting ice floes were equally as beautiful. Along the horizon was the expanse of the pack ice, which extends to the North Pole and beyond to the Canadian Arctic and Russia. Closer to us were broken fragments of the ice floating slowly away. There was a calmness here that was amazingly peaceful. We were so far away from civilisation, living in what felt like a little bubble, not caring about what else was going on in the world. Though the bubble would burst soon enough, enjoying the long days, watching the wildlife and the ice pass us by, was a joy and an amazing privilege to experience.

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