A buzz of excitement electrified the bridge this morning as we approached the southwest coast of Svalbard. Ice floes, the first we have seen so far, dotted the sea as we entered Hornsund for our morning exploration. Low clouds hid the tips of the rugged mountains that ring this fjord system, and seabirds escorted us to the far end of the fjord. Just a few days ago, Hornsund was full of ice, but a west wind blew much of the pack ice out into the open water. That said, the captain managed to find some ice to push through as we ventured into several of the smaller arms of this area. It was inspiring to see National Geographic Explorer power its way through the heavy floes.
Our photo instructor, Eric and staff members Karl-Eric and Colin gave a hands-on talk in the lounge on how to adjust your cameras to best take advantage of this new scenery. We talked about exposure compensation and figured out which buttons to push. We all took test pictures out the window so that we could see how the compensation works and how best to adjust our cameras.
Later in the morning, Magnus gave a fascinating talk on polar bears. He had some wonderful slides and colorful descriptions for the great bears. It turned out to be very appropriate since just at the end of lunch, Lucho announced that our first polar bear had been spotted near the ship. The dining room cleared within minutes!
The bear was a large male and was walking along the shore heading towards the fast ice. He did not seem concerned with us in the least and this worked to our benefit. The captain was able to bring the ship to the edge of the fast ice and the bear walked right past. Everyone was able to get fantastic looks at this majestic bear. Not finding any seals, he eventually wandered off across the ice and we sailed back towards our landing site.
A scout boat was lowered and sent to check the landing for our afternoon excursion. Unfortunately the landing beach was full of ice and not suitable for our planned activities. Lucho made the decision to cruise through the ice instead. Everyone loaded into the Zodiacs and braved the crisp breeze to explore the many icebergs surrounding the ship. The scenery was spectacular and we returned to the ship with broad smiles all around.
Today was a wonderful start to our time here in Svalbard, and we are looking forward to exploring more of this fantastic arctic paradise.
