The early risers came up to the bridge as National Geographic Explorer was cruising northwards along the east side of Edgeøya. The weather was calm and slightly overcast. We were in open water of the Olgastretet (“the Olga Strait”), searching for sea ice. A few flocks of Brünnich´s guillemots and single fulmars were seen now and then. But would there be sea ice ahead? Just before seven o´clock we encountered the first ice, and telescopes and dozens of binoculars were raised in search of white, furry things and other wildlife connected to ice.
In the beginning there were only few sheets of ice of significant size and the other bits and pieces of ice were quite scattered. The lack of spotted seals also indicated a low chance of finding any polar bears during our first hours of scanning. The last hour before lunch naturalist Magnus Forsberg gave an in-depth presentation on the polar bear. Just as he was about to finish his talk, a female bear with two cubs was spotted in the far distance, walking on a big flat stretch of ice, just off the southeastern corner of Barents-øya. Shortly after, another female with two small cubs was sighted to the north. Two single adult bears were also seen way out in the same area. The naturalists helped the guests to get a glimpse of the distant bears through telescopes up on the bridge and on the observation deck outside of the chart room. Just before lunch a couple of walruses were spotted on an icefloe, and they seemed quite relaxed as our ship passed by.
During most of the afternoon the search for wildlife continued, and the efforts paid off in the form of another six bears. By dinner 11 polar bears had been observed, all of which were seen in the far distance. In the late afternoon National Geographic photographer Todd Gipstein gave an enlightening talk on how to create a good story with photographs.
Two more bears were detected after dinner, both in the far distance, such contributing to the amazing total of 13 bears spotted during this first day of exploration in the ice. Six of the bears were adults and seven were cubs. During the late evening we sailed through the narrow strait of Heleysundet, heading for new adventures along the east side of Spitsbergen.
