Thursday 25 st
of June 2015
and We were coming closer to the Polar Bears. They had spotted one, well, the same Polar Bear they spotted before lunch and he had been swimming in a straight line and crossed the ice in a straight line. So he knew where he was going.
So when I and my new friends came on the fo'c's'le after lunch to check out the Polar Bears we stopped and it was decided to launch the Zodiacs. They had spotted 3 Polar Bears close by and a chance like this is nothing you want to miss. We actually had the “swimmer” close to our gangway when we boarded the Zodiacs
I was in the last Zodiac with the couple from Switzerland and one older lady from Germany, yeah, we're all in the golden age. We experienced a magic afternoon. They Guides were on cloud 9, something like this is, well, it was a very rare opportunity and we had been incredibly lucky to find not one but three, yes, THREE Polar Bears!
And I also saw the second of the two birds I wanted to cross from my art list:
1) Puffin bird (yesterday)
2) Ivory Gull (Today and the Ivory Gull is only found on Svalbard)
So I was very happy when we came back to the ship. So let's enjoy some of the pictures and you will soon understand what a unique day this had been! Fantastic!
The Polar Bear we follow is the very same Polar Bear they had spotted swimming before lunch. He is walking towards a second Polar Bear ta we have spotted laying in on the ice far away.
The swimmer is very close to us when launching the Zodiacs
What a beautiful animal
A bearded Seal shows up, and the Polar Bear have smelled him
The Polar Bear come to check out the seal
The seal dives when the Polar Bear shows up
He missed the seal
He sniffs a little before leaving again
Swimming again
Not always easy to get up on the ice again
Not always easy to get up on the ice again
Not always easy to get up on the ice again
Not always easy to get up on the ice again
He sniffing at something
And yes, he find something to eat
And yes, he find something to eat
Amazing, the polar Bear can smell a seal one kilometre away. And they can even smell the seals under the ice. Otherwise they would not have been able to survive on the ice. Seals digging holes in the ice from under the ice. Then they have their babies in this hole. That's why you can see Polar Bears jumping on the ice to reach the seals under the ice in their holes
We also saw Ivory Gulls during our Polar bear adventure, the Ivory Gull are like vultures eating from what ever the Polar Bear kills to eat.
An Ivory Gull flying around the Polar Bear
An Ivory Gull flying around the Polar Bear
He had a snack on what ever he found under the ice and he continues
Now he is very close to the other Polar Bear that is still sleeping
Is there something under the ice?
The other Polar Bear is still sleeping
Another sniff around
Another Ivory Gull
Now, the other Polar Bear woke up and wonder what's going on
Our friend the Swimmer goes to say hello to the sleeping Polar Bear
Our friend the Swimmer goes to say hello to the sleeping Polar Bear
When the swimmer arrives the sleeper gets scared and run away. The swimmer sniff around for a while then he turn around and continue towards a THIRD Polar Bear in the area. No end to the excitements this afternoon. An fantastic experience to follow the Polar Bear from sea level.
A THIRD Polar Bear relaxing in the snow
Isn't this how you see Polar Bears sleeping in cartoons?
Our friend the swimmer continues
Absolute beauty
Absolute beauty
He is aware of the other Polar Bear
The third bear for today, on the left hand side is a giant.
We can see that hes belly always tough the snow. He have been eating alot and he will survive
They measure each others
They measure each others
Ivory Gull and Polar Bear
This time the swimmer had to leave as the third Polar Bear was a giant
An Ivory Gull on the ice
This is a giant
What an afternoon, and I didn't realised that it was cold until I was back on board m/s Quet. Action non-stop since we got in to the Zodiac. We followed the swimmer on his way over water andice. We saw him finding some food under the ice. An amazing experience!
We also saw him go to say helo to Polar Bear #2 that got scared and ran away. Then our new friend, the swimmer turned around and he went to say hello to a third, Yes a THIRD Polar Bear.
Our new friend wasn't so lucky with this giant, as our Guide graded the Polar Bear, a 4+ out of 5. 5 is when they are so fat the belly hanging down to the ground. But this 4+ had his belly all the way to the ice and he will survive the up coming hard time with not much food.
What an afternoon! And amazing experience and this isn't something everyone is lucky to see. I had a Polar Bear outside my window when I was back on board. For sure for the first time in my life. Yes, I saw the Polar Bear on the ice outside my window.
We were soon leaving and I was in my cabin watching my pictures, and I love the pictures with the Ivory Gull. Didn't take long before there was a PA message again. We were passing the Polar Bears and a dead whale on our Starboard side. I was soon on the saloon deck with my camera again. What a day! It will for sure be very hard to beat this experience.
Watching us pass
Watching us pass
Polar Bear and birds eating on a dead whale
Polar Bear and birds eating on a dead whale
Watching the Polar Bears from the saloon
Only the birds remaining to eat from the whale
Watching the Polar Bears from the saloon
I had just come back down in my cabin with three cans of diet drinks when the called again. This time we had Walruses on the ice, YIPPEEEE!!!! I grabbed my camera and I ran back up on saloon deck trying not to miss any thing. What an amazing day this turned out to be!
Still not the kind of pictures I'm looking for. But I was soon discovering water spray in front of the boat and it was more Walruses coming. Still not the perfect pictures, but we have 3 more days to find Walruses
We finish the day with a picture of an ice berg
It was kind of a slow start of the day, watching ice. Well, I have seen more ice in my life than I care for so this was, well, part of the tour. Second part of the day and what a recovery. It turned out to be an amazing day. Polar bears and the Ivory Gull and I gave seen both of the birds I wanted to see.
Walruses, well, not exactly the kind of pictures I had been hoping for, but so far the very best pictures of Walruses I got. But the adventure continues tomorrow and you just have to click HERE
to find out what we experience tomorrow!