Kapp Fanshawe & Hinlopen Strait & Palander Bukta
Visiting the Arctic is like traveling back in time. The mountains have been laid bare from glacial action and arctic weathering. These bones of earth, plastered with patches of snow and ice and rime take us back to the end of the last ice age. Yet, despite this challenging environment, the land is blessed with a myriad of life.
5:30 a.m. – The sun is already up, but of course, it never sets here this time of year above the Arctic Circle. Off the National Geographic Explorer’s bow is Kapp Fanshawe and a massive cliff alive with birds. The loud cacophony of birds and the acrid odor of guano immediately tells us that we have arrived at the amazing bird cliffs of Alkefjellet, where more than 100,000 birds come to raise their young. Row upon row of Brunnich’s guillemots sit on tiny ledges. Scattered among them are nesting black-legged kittiwakes calling their name. The sky is abuzz with flying guillemots, glaucous gulls, and northern fulmars.
Later in the morning, our ship makes her way farther into Hinlopen Strait to reach the edge of the sea ice, where we hope to find the ice bear. Ahead is a dramatic monochromatic landscape. The dark gray sea ends at a broad expanse of gleaming, broken ice. Beyond the ice, snow-covered mountains rise and disappear into flannel-gray clouds. The naturalists focus their binoculars on the floe. Shortly, they spy a tiny dot in the distance. The spotting scope is trained on the suspicious object.
“I think it’s a bear,” comes one opinion.
“No, it’s a piece of dirty ice,” comes another.
“It looks like it has hips.”
“Look! It moved!”
The captain steers the ship forward, pushing slowly through the ice. As we get nearer, the bear senses us but shows no alarm. The ship is stopped. The bear yawns, gets up, walks around, occasionally biting off a chunk of snow and casually chewing it up. Much to our delight, the bear begins to meander in our direction. A hush falls over the ship except for the frantic clicking of camera shutters.
Eventually the bear is only a few meters from our port side. It looks up at us, perhaps wondering what this huge blue and white object is. Something startles the bear but doesn’t frighten it. The ice bear moves just a little farther away from the ship, lies down, and takes a snooze. What an incredible sight.
The day continues with other remarkable bear sightings including one feeding on a seal carcass while gulls try to snatch a tidbit for themselves. In Palander Bukta, a mother and cub are found resting on the ice. Both were napping but now and then the wee one would stir and snuggle closer to its mom. Their cuteness belies that fact that they are the top predator in the Arctic.
Just when we thought nothing else could happen to top the day, a pod of beluga whales with young calves was discovered cavorting in the icy leads threading through the floe. Camera cards full and pleasant memories recorded, we retreated to the welcome warmth of the ship’s interior. What surprises will tomorrow bring?
