4th – Going far east

Wakeup call this morning was at 0700 and the first half of the morning was spent on ship cruising along the ice shelf we had reached during the night. We had been sailing all night bringing us all the way down to the south-east coast of Austlandet, the eastern large island of the Svalbard archipelago.

 

After a while the zodiacs were lowered and we went out to see the ice a bit closer from a different – lower – angle, and hoping to see some wildlife in the process. While we did see a few birds and seals rearing their heads ice was clearly the main event.

Seal.

When returning from the 1½ hour quite cold ride we soon after had lunch while relocating a bit back westwards where the plan was to land, do a walk and see some walruses. The plan fell to pieces when a polar bear was spotted close to where it had been planned we were to go in land so instead we enjoyed the view from the ship for a bit before entering the zodiacs and just cruised along the beach where we both got to see the bear a bit closer (though still at a fair distance and falling asleep behind some rocks) and a few groups of walruses that didn’t just lie still but actually were moving around while we were looking. It was theorized that their activity was due to nervousness as the bear might have been closer earlier during the day.

Polar bear.

Arctic terns resting on a piece of ice.

Walruses.

Returning to the ship we had our usual briefing at 1815 but it was cut short by another polar bear sighting: this was more active and actually came down to the beach and walk around so you got to see it from all angles, even if this one also was a fair bit away. The rest of the night was uneventful: spending some time in the bar, having a few drinks and seeing the sunset before going to bed.

Having a walk.