15th - More teddies!

Wake up call was at 0700 and breakfast like yesterday was half an hour later. During the night we had relocated to Alkefjellet at Hinlopenstretet and at 0830 we were all sent into the zodiacs to do 1-2 hours back and forth the cliffs which were the home of app. 60.000 couples of guillemots. Sailing about we were also lucky enough to get to spot an arctic fox. The weather had gotten colder since yesterday but with a couple of extra layers it was all good.

Cliff with app. 120.000 brunnich's guillemots. 

Arctic fox on the prowl.

Not until I looked through the photos when coming home I realized that it had managed to get an egg.

The rest of the morning was relaxation while the ship moved to Palanderbukta in Nordaustlandet (the island east of Spitsbergen) where we arrived in the early afternoon. The plan had been to deploy the zodiacs but due to winds, cold and not-so-good visibility that never happened. Instead we stayed on the ship and from there we were able to spot some seals, albeit from quite a bit away. After an hour or so it was announced that a bear had been spotted, estimated 4-5 nautical miles away. As the ship was anchored we were allowed to enter the bridge and use the scope they had mounted which made things a bit easier. Spending some time looking at it I returned inside again to warm up. The second a cup of tea was ready we were notified of an adult and cub was spotted so I returned outside again. After watching them for a while I went back inside, and the moment a new cup of tea was ready – another pair spotted. So out again. While standing outside this time the first couple has started moving around which made them a bit more entertaining. They moved a bit closer which made things a bit more interesting but not by much. It was easy to see, though, that when crossing the ice the cub was clearly struggling with the occasional thin ice which the adult was better at avoiding the thin patches.

The weather was getting dull and misty during the afternoon...

... which gave time to stay indoors and take photos of the interior. This is the lounge.

And the restaurant, fully set for dinner.

For a while this was the closest we were to a polar bear. In this shot there are (at least) 6 seals and 1 bear.

The female with the cub started moving and things got a bit more interesting.

During the briefing at 1815 we were shown ice maps and it was announced that we would be returning north again, this time as far as (almost) possible with the goal of passing the 80^th degree and hopefully making it to the 81^st.

Dinner was once again amazing; 4 meals, duck and cheesecake!