16th - The bear necessities

We were woken up at 0700 again with the usual messages, but this one included the announcement that a bear had been spotted though at a distance. People were out looking before breakfast but while it was far away – not quite as far as yesterday – the air was crisp clear so it was easy to see it when you found in on the ice.

Morning bear.

The morning was spent drifting around and spotting the occasional bears that came within viewing distance.

During looking at polar bears (it was crowded around here) one of the bartenders came out and served hot chocolate with kahlua. They took really good care of us.

Lunch was had (people slowly trickled in during the hour due to watching bears as opposed to the usual where most show up at 1200) and afterwards we took the zodiacs to have a cruise around the nearby ice. Saw only birds and 1-2 seals, but it was beautiful surroundings. It was basically the edge of the northern ice cap. Our zodiac was employed for a rescue mission when one of the others’ engine broke down. When they ended up transferring people directly to another zodiac instead of via the ship (due to currents and winds) we were all holding cameras ready in case of any accidental moves.

The MS Expedition.

There are around 12 guides and 51 crew members. That was more than I had expected (especially with the latter), but it keeps the ship going at a very satisfactory pace. In comparison we are app. 120 passengers.

The zodiacs were called in by the ship’s captain sudden due to the sudden appearance of fog rolling in. It moved quickly and those furthest away were suddenly visibly fading away. It was suddenly obvious why the radio call had such urgency to it.

It went from clear as seen above to this within minutes.

The rest of the afternoon was supposed to be calm, but 3 polar bears were spotted. Then a few more. Then a large one only 100-200 meters from the bow of the ship. We were slowly drifting through the ice and the bear didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry of getting away from the ship which meant that it spent quite a while close to us which made it easy for everyone to get some nice closeups. We were in the middle of an ice field and according to reports we were surrounded by at least 8 individuals.

This is how a healthy bear should look like, not anything near the skinny one spotted at Smeerenburg.

When even the kitchen staff comes out to look at the bear you start realizing how close we really are to it.

As we slowly crept forward we reached the open water in a north-bound direction which meant that, during dinner, we got a blow from the horn signaling us crossing the 81^st degree.

After dinner there was a costume party in the bar and much fun was had accompanied by the crew band Monkey Eating Eagles who took over for our musician, Kevin, for the night. 

Romans, guillemots, Santa's helpers, walrus, boxer, wine chest and more.

The Monkey Eating Eagles.