Into the Pack Ice - Svalbard Expedition in Early Summer

[kittykat23uk]

3 hours ago, MPS said:

The tour before us on the Freya had seen 18 bears, so we had hoped for more, but the sightings change every day. 

Well thats just greedy!! 18 sightings 🤯!!! 

[MPS]

1 hour ago, janzin said:

I think I'd be nervous about dunking my Z9 in the sea, housing or no!

Fully agree, I was dunking only my old D500 

[Galana]

Very pleased to read that the trip was able to get back on course if not schedule so quickly.

Another good Bear sighting and Blue Whales must be some compensation although I know more is to come.

 

[MPS]

DAY 8 - THE ISLAND BEAR

 

All through the night we had been moving East a fair bit from the shore through heavy waves that came from behind. We had now passed Hinlopen Strait to the South and were near the North coast of Nordaustlandet. The plan was still to head to the pack ice which we expected to find further Northeast. The Norwegian Meterological Office produces daily ice charts which they derive from satellite ground-mapping radar data. Unfortunately, they do not issue these maps on weekends and it now was Sunday. So the last map was published Friday afternoon and the next one would be available on Monday afternoon. With ice floes sometimes moving fast, we were not sure where and when we could reach the ice.

 

Reaching it would mean that we would have to change course from East to North and with heavy waves coming from the West, we would then expose our ship to serious rotational movement. The ship going up and down is manageable but heavy rolls are not that pleasant. It was then decided that we enter the sheltered waters of Nordenskiöld Bay and explore it for a few hours until the weather improves and the waves calm down.

 

Waiting for weather to calm down in Nordenskiöld Bay

 

Despite intensive search by the guides and us passengers, no bear was spotted. Before entering the bay, we had received news from another ship who also came up blank in this particular bay. But we did see an interesting iceberg which served as a welcome distraction.

 

Turquoise iceberg in Nordenskiöld Bay

 

After the weather had finally calmed down we took a Northeasterly course out of the bay and towards the pack ice. Our guide Oscar recommended to pay a visit to tiny King Karl XII island, some 34 km North off the coast of Nordaustlandet on our way to the pack ice. Bears sometimes use this island to take a breather when swimming North to the pack ice, and so would we.

 

King Karl XII island consists of one rather mountainous rocky peak in the West that is also home to bird colonies and a much smaller peak at the Western end. In between lies a much lower patch of sand and pebble. When reaching it, we saw remnant patches of snow and ice on the island, but no bears.

 

The Western tip of King Karl XII Island

 

But this changed when we turned around to the Northern side of the island. Oscar spotted a bear. And the bear was even unusually clean, apparently having just had

a very long swim that cleaned his fur.

 

The Island Bear

 

Upon noting this intrusion to his private island refuge, the bear started to move up-hill, showing all the signs of not really being a photo bear. But this bear was about to surprise us more than once. He made a long circle and then appeared to move towards the beach. This was our sign to get ready to enter the Zodiacs. 

 

There were still rather high waves which made it difficult to photograph, but this was a beautiful bear in a beautiful landscape. And even better, he started to proceed towards us.

 

First approach

 

The bear was assumed to be a female, but given the form of the neck, I was not so sure. When the bear reached a small patch of packed snow and ice, he bit out a few chunks of ice. It appears even polar bears like to consume ice when they feel too warm. 

I scream, you scream, everybody wants ice-cream

 

After this the bear gave us a nice look - and turned around and moved up-hill. Would it be over already?

 

Giving us the look

 

After the bear had taken another stroll up the hill, it was time to change direction again and climb back to the beach over rocks.Now the bear proceeded at a faster pace towards the beach and headed straight for our Zodiac piloted by Yves.

Without further ado the bear climbed a rock and then launched himself in the water heading for our Zodiac.

 

Polar Bear going for a swim

 

That was the time when Yves launched the Zodiac in reverse gear and someone on the boat commented whether we would have to accept sacrificing someone in the front of the Zodiac as an offering to the gods. Guess who was sitting in the front of the boat.

 

Seeing the Zodiac moving backward, the bear looked somewhat disappointed, seeing his intended dinner selection receding from shore.

 

Disappointed Polar Bear

 

Maybe he just wanted to play ? Who knows. But he definitely took an interest in us and it was the best bear encounter so far.

 

The bear then got out of the water and began moving up-hill again. Now we wanted to intercept him from the other side of the island, but this turned out to be not an ideal location and so in high spirits we returned to the MS Feya and started to head further North.

Edited July 24, 2022 by MPS

[kittykat23uk]

Playing? Hmm maybe.. I think he wanted to eat you 😂😂😂 glad your guide was quick on the reverse controls!! 

[MPS]

4 minutes ago, kittykat23uk said:

I think he wanted to eat you

Very likely, yes. We were lying in the front of the Zodiac like two seals on an ice floe, kind of a ready-to-eat seal double-whopper 

[iphonewifeNikonhusband]

Gorgeous photos and wonderful essay, we are loving every post!

[janzin]

Wow that's an incredible bear encounter! Love him in the water. Beautiful photos!

 

[MPS]

43 minutes ago, iphonewifeNikonhusband said:

Gorgeous photos and wonderful essay, we are loving every post!

Glad to hear that, much appreciated. I will add an equipment and gear post at the end of the series, maybe it will be of use for your trip in August!

[MPS]

28 minutes ago, janzin said:

Wow that's an incredible bear encounter! Love him in the water. Beautiful photos!

 

Thank you, Janet! Two more great encounters to come 

[iphonewifeNikonhusband]

I will pass along all gear recommendations to DH the photographer😂. Hence my forum name. 

[pomkiwi]

Super report Michael and excellent images (as always). So glad that you were listened to in the end and the engineer got medical attention. Freya does seem to have had an ‘interesting’ start to the season - let’s hope that unfortunate events come in threes and there will be no more!

[iphonewifeNikonhusband]

9 hours ago, pomkiwi said:

Super report Michael and excellent images (as always). So glad that you were listened to in the end and the engineer got medical attention. Freya does seem to have had an ‘interesting’ start to the season - let’s hope that unfortunate events come in threes and there will be no more!

What happened to the Freya before this event with the engineer who took ill?

[pomkiwi]

22 minutes ago, iphonewifeNikonhusband said:

What happened to the Freya before this event with the engineer who took ill?

Very early in the season @Janzin had a trip on the Freya when the zodiacs were out of action for a good while and then @vikramghanekarhad a trip where the departure was delayed by a day or so due to paerwork problems. Both have excellent trip reports with the details.

Edited July 25, 2022 by pomkiwi

[MPS]

9 hours ago, pomkiwi said:

Super report Michael and excellent images (as always). So glad that you were listened to in the end and the engineer got medical attention. Freya does seem to have had an ‘interesting’ start to the season - let’s hope that unfortunate events come in threes and there will be no more!

Thank you for the kind words, Mark. We have heard so many stories about issues with other ships that we now tend to think that a flawless trip is more of an exception than the rule.

[pomkiwi]

10 minutes ago, MPS said:

We have heard so many stories about issues with other ships that we now tend to think that a flawless trip is more of an exception than the rule.

I think I was lucky with my trip. It is such a remote and challenging environment that it is not surprising that often things do not go to plan (and that's before the weather....)

[MPS]

DAY 9 - THROUGH THE PACK ICE, PART 1

 

We saw the pack ice ahead of us only a few hours after we had left King Karl XII. The quality of light over the ice was very unusual and somewaht mystical unlike anything we had ever seen before and that should continue for our remaining time in the ice, although there was some variation in cloud cover and the amount of fog hanging over the ice.

 

Reaching the pack ice boundary

 

It was recommended to go and get some sleep as it was expected that a long and tedious search for the needle in the haystack would be ahead of us, with no guarantee at all that we would not come up empty handed.  In fact, we heard about a number of vessels before us that did not find a single bear in the ice. And so reluctantly we complied and retired to our cabins.

We were woken up in the middle of the night by Yves knocking at our doors, saying while no bear had been found so far, the light would be way too good to pass that up. And so it was. We had arrived right in the middle of alien planet Ice. Now we could really understand the fascination that had drawn generations of explorers into this inhospitable realm of ice and sky.

 

Planet Ice - Looking back at the track left by MS Freya

 

 

Planet Ice - Looking ahead

 

The captain would look intently for areas that had broken ice fields that we could follow, which was not easy at times and on a few occasions we barely escaped getting stuck.

 

Having landed on an alien planet

 

At some point the captain announced that we would remain stationary for a while and that the drone pilots - of which there were three- would be free to take advantage of that, which we more than happily agreed to.

 

 

MS Freya from high up in the arctic air (drone photo)

 

It would be hard to judge how big these ice floes really are if our vessel would not be there for comparison. Can you spot us on the deck?

 

A possible route ahead (drone photo)

 

It was so incredibly beautiful that we decided not to go back to sleep but continue to enjoy this unique experience and of course to search for the ruler of this arctic kingdom!

 

Searching for polar bears

 

Hours passed by and we did not see any bear. In fact it was an extremely difficult visual search as with the chaos of ice formations in all directions you had absolutely no measure of scale. You did not know whether an ice block ahead was the size of a cat or of rather of a pick-up truck.

That changed whenever we had Bearded Seals in view. In fact we saw many, some alone, others in pairs. They seemed to be virtually everywhere. One seal that we passed had a fresh flesh wound on his shoulder which looked like a canine tooth mark, and there also seemed to be some damage to the skin on the neck. Most of the polar bear attacks are unsuccessful, often the seals can get away even when the bear already has a grip on them.

 

Wounded Bearded Seal on the ice

 

But sometimes they can't get away and the polar bear wins.

 

Both of our guides, Oscar and Yves, helped by us and a few other guests had been searching for well over six hours when Yves finally said that he sees a bear on a kill in his binoculars. It was still more than 5 kilometers away and when he first noticed him it was just a tiny yellowish speck.

 

The ship approached slowly in order not to scare him away, but on getting closer we could already see that the kill was rather fresh and the ice floe was literally covered in blood. It appeared to be a large, full-grown male that moved slowly and seemed rather undisturbed by our approach. A number of Ivory Gulls were picking for food in the bloody ice patches. (To be continued in Part 2)

 

Polar Bear standing over a fresh Bearded Seal kill - four Ivory Gulls to the left of the bear

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by MPS

[TonyQ]

Superb photos and a very enjoyable report.

You had excellent sightings, and the landscapes/icescapes are wonderful 

[iphonewifeNikonhusband]

2 hours ago, pomkiwi said:

Very early in the season @Janzin had a trip on the Freya when the zodiacs were out of action for a good while and then @vikramghanekarhad a trip where the departure was delayed by a day or so due to paerwork problems. Both have excellent trip reports with the details.

thank you and ugh

[iphonewifeNikonhusband]

Gorgeous photos

[TravelMore]

Mesmerizing story! Great photos. 

[Galana]

Enjoying this very much. Especially the fantastic Bear encounters. Thanks for sharing with us.

[MPS]

DAY 9 - THROUGH THE PACK ICE, PART 2

 

On getting closer, we could see that the bear was heavily panting. He seemed to have eaten most of the 70 to 80 kg of high-calorie blubber that the 200 kg animal might have provided to him. Although Bearded Seals can weigh up to 400 kg, the not fully developed beard we saw indicated that is probably was a young animal of about half that weight. You could tell that he had not reached the inner organs yet, as the amount of blood on his face was still very limited.

Having to digest this amount of pure fat must be a substantial demand on any predator's body. But he also had no time to lose because he knows very well that the smell of blood carries a long way over the ice, potentially attracting other bears that would not shy away from risking to fight with him over this much-needed supply of fat and protein.

 

Male Polar Bear on a fresh Bearded Seal kill

 

He continued to be relatively calm and did not show any signs of agitation, and maybe he was just physically unable to react. Once we had photographed the bear from several angles from the ship, Joshua Holko announced that in his view, this would be a one-in-a-hundred opportunity to photograph a huge but tolerant male polar bear on a fresh seal kill, and that so it was decided that we would launch the Zodiacs to get a better look. Because it was afternoon and there was little cloud cover, the light was still a bit harsh, but absolutely manageable, and under some angles there were beautiful reflections to be had.

 

Bear reflections

 

On seeing our Zodiacs approaching, the bear lifted his head to get a better look and inhale the air to catch our smell. He opened his mouth, salivating and showing his teeth, but did not hiss or show any other sign of aggression. This was a tolerant bear and from his slow movements you could tell that he appeared pretty much nearing a food-induced coma. Digestive anyone?

 

Maximum exertion when showing dominance with a belly full of blubber

 

We worked the situation from all angles for a few hours during which we got tons of fascinating shots, but giving the gory nature of the scene, most of these would probably not make it on anyone's living room wall. We decided to give him some rest and return to the ship for dinner and emptying our storage cards.

 

Of course everyone had looked at their pictures from the afternoon and had other specific shots in mind for the next outing, if there would be one. But would the bear still be there and happily comply with our visions?

 

After dinner the light started to take on a new quality, much better than in the afternoon and so it was decided that we board the Zodiacs one more time and look for the bear who had drifted a bit away from our ship on his ice floe. When we reached him, he was sound asleep in front of his kill.

 

Polar Bear sleeping over his kill

 

Not even the sputtering of the Zodiac's engine did wake him up from his stupor. But this changed when we placed the Zodiac in a position where he could smell us on the wind. After a while of just looking at us, he started feeding again, probably just to assert that this is his food source that he had no intention whatsoever of sharing with the happy folk in the Zodiacs.

 

Feeding to demonstrate ownership rights

 

A happy bear in the pack ice

 

The fairly rare and much sought-after Ivory Gulls, denizens of the high arctic, profiting from the kill and usually not being chased away by the bear unless they came too close to his nose, provided us other great photo opportunities at close range.

 

Ivory Gull, note the telling red rim around the eye

 

We left the bear to head back to the ship after a few hours on the Zodiac when an attractive band of orange light had lit up the horizon under the midnight sun and gave us even more great lighting conditions.

 

Gorgeous arctic midnight light on this bear

 

We required some guidance from the bridge of MS Freya in order to find a track of open water that could lead us back to the boat. Not only did Oscar patiently pilot our Zodiac in difficult currents around the bear, now he also showed us how fast you can weave around loosely packed ice floes at high speed. Very enjoyable! When we were back on the ship the initial idea was to hang around until the morning and then see whether other bears would come in, but soon we noted that MS Freya was clearly heading South, right out of the pack ice. So we reluctantly waved our good byes to this magnificent bear who had given us such spectacular opportunities for so many hours that no one of us will ever forget.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by MPS

[iphonewifeNikonhusband]

This is the most amazing sequence, we are dying of envy! Gorgeous photos!

[janzin]

Amazing, what a sighting, that is one fat happy bear! I'm envious even of the Ivory Gull!  Fabulous photos.

 

Good point though that no one really wants a photo of bloody guts hanging on their living room wall. Always a thought in my mind when photographing any animal on a kill.