Day 12 – Greenland Pack Ice, a polar bear
We were slowly drifting into the ice pack, starting with bits and bobs here and there, and blaming the lack of large chunks on the wind. The crew were on high alert for whales and polar bears because apparently the “sister ship” who we were secretly jealous of had spotted a bunch of bowheads a few days prior.
Some people even saw a harp seal, a hooded seal and a few ringed seals through their binoculars. By the time I wanted to see them, they turned into tiny specks but hey, at least we were escorted by a feathery paparazzi of kittiwakes and fulmars. Occasionally, a flock of little auks, guillemots and skuas appeared breaking the ice with their squawking and adding a much needed splash of color to our monochrome vista.
At around 12:30pm, after squinting so hard looking for bears, it was finally time for lunch. We’d seen some paw prints on ice blocks which naturally raised our hopes. Clearly, a polar bear had been here, it was just a matter of time.
As soon as I took my first bite, a guest (who of course had just gotten into wildlife photography two minutes before this trip) shrieked polar bear. We all dropped our spoons, grabbed our cameras and stampeded onto the deck.
The bear was just a beige speck on the horizon at first. But as the captain drifted us closer because apparently there are rules against getting too close to the giant, that speck started to look more and more like an actual polar bear. The majestic beast swam, jumped from ice floe to ice floe and even took a moment to relax, air dry and show us his bum. The adorable encounter lasted for an entire hour, which was long enough to get the perfect shot and forget all about our lukewarm meals waiting for us back in the dining room.
After we went back to our cold lunches, we hung out on deck again. The ice floes were getting larger, which was a good sign but the bears and whales were anti social, so actual wildlife sightings were zilch. As a result, we marveled at icicles forming on the side of the boat like glistening frozen daggers.
Day 13 – Greenland Pack Ice
Between patches of poor visibility, we continued our grand search for polar bears, bowhead whales or any whale, maintaining our hopeful optimism we’d carried over from yesterday.We pushed through thick ice that grew thicker as we broke through large slabs while a variety of birds—ivory gulls, kittiwakes, little auks, long-tailed skuas, and fulmars—flew around us. Harp seals and bearded seals were spotted from afar and looked like specks from a distance as our hopes slowly evaporated.
Our guide tried to cheer us up, claiming this was the best ice she had ever seen, but it was little consolation for a day with no sightings. No offense to the birdies.
Day 14 – Greenland Pack Ice – heading to Svalbard
It was an encore of yesterday’s nothingburger. Despite the great conditions, we were again on the prowl for anything that wasn’t a bird. The guillemots, fulmars, and skuas were a real sight, providing a stunning contrast to the monochromatic landscape of our shattered dreams. A couple of ivory gulls flew around and landed on ice, a promising sign since they clean up polar bear’s leftovers. But, naturally, we both had no luck.
CRAYSCAPE 