Liefdefjord
Our first day of the expedition; an expedition that will encompass not only Svalbard, the land of the Ice Bear, but also northern mainland Norway. As the guests boarded Endeavour yesterday in Longyearbyen, one could feel the anticipation and excitement they brought with them. Walking through the companionways, and out on deck, quiet murmurings and quick questions filled the air, the foremost in everyone’s mind: When would we see our first Polar Bear?
It did not take long to answer that question, as this morning we all awoke under sunny skies, and the call went out over the PA system that up ahead we had our first polar bear! In fact we had our first three polar bears, a mother and her two cubs. These bears, stuck on land after the ice retreated, walked casually along the landscape, as all eyes, binoculars, and spotting scopes were turned towards them in wonderment. By the end of the morning, we had 8 bear sightings under our belt. Though at a distance, all could appreciate the mass and presence these bears hold, once and for all confirming why Polar Bears are dubbed the “King of the North.”
Heading away from the bears, and turning towards Monaco glacier, the ship cruised slowly by a magnificent landscape of ice capped hills, red mountains, and sediment streaked slopes. The glacier itself is outstanding, cracked and cragged, a deep azure ice, stretching nearly two miles wide. At the base of the glacier where the melt water coming from underneath is producing upwellings, there are thousands and thousands of kittiwakes, happily feasting on the small planktonic animals that are being forced to the surface. A plankton tow revealed these animals were krill, small shrimp like creatures, and pteropods, small shell-less snails also known as sea butterflies.
We were in sensory overload already, when one more bear was spotted; there swimming by the front of the glacier, only the very top of the head and it’s black nose visible. Continuing past the ship, clearly on it’s own mission to find lunch, it paid us no mind.
Heading inside for our own lunch, the quiet murmurings had changed to loud exclamations of awe, and the excitement had risen to a new high. The only question now present was: How can it get any better than this?
Our first day of the expedition; an expedition that will encompass not only Svalbard, the land of the Ice Bear, but also northern mainland Norway. As the guests boarded Endeavour yesterday in Longyearbyen, one could feel the anticipation and excitement they brought with them. Walking through the companionways, and out on deck, quiet murmurings and quick questions filled the air, the foremost in everyone’s mind: When would we see our first Polar Bear?
It did not take long to answer that question, as this morning we all awoke under sunny skies, and the call went out over the PA system that up ahead we had our first polar bear! In fact we had our first three polar bears, a mother and her two cubs. These bears, stuck on land after the ice retreated, walked casually along the landscape, as all eyes, binoculars, and spotting scopes were turned towards them in wonderment. By the end of the morning, we had 8 bear sightings under our belt. Though at a distance, all could appreciate the mass and presence these bears hold, once and for all confirming why Polar Bears are dubbed the “King of the North.”
Heading away from the bears, and turning towards Monaco glacier, the ship cruised slowly by a magnificent landscape of ice capped hills, red mountains, and sediment streaked slopes. The glacier itself is outstanding, cracked and cragged, a deep azure ice, stretching nearly two miles wide. At the base of the glacier where the melt water coming from underneath is producing upwellings, there are thousands and thousands of kittiwakes, happily feasting on the small planktonic animals that are being forced to the surface. A plankton tow revealed these animals were krill, small shrimp like creatures, and pteropods, small shell-less snails also known as sea butterflies.
We were in sensory overload already, when one more bear was spotted; there swimming by the front of the glacier, only the very top of the head and it’s black nose visible. Continuing past the ship, clearly on it’s own mission to find lunch, it paid us no mind.
Heading inside for our own lunch, the quiet murmurings had changed to loud exclamations of awe, and the excitement had risen to a new high. The only question now present was: How can it get any better than this?
