Hoping to fulfil a schoolgirl dream to see a polar bear in the wild I set off on the Around Spitsbergen voyage in August with hope in my heart but not an expectation. I had heard all the stories of the disappearing polar bears. Imagine how my heart beat when we had a close up encounter that exceeded my wildest dreams. Five meters away from the Akademik Shokalskiy was the healthiest polar bear, as curious of us as we were in him. It was a wonderous sight as the bear just ambled towards us from the horizon past the bearded seal, who took evasive action as the bear approached. We all held our breath as he took an enormous leap over the ice that had cracked in front of the ship a truly awe inspiring sight. Disappearing into the distance with the sun low on the horizon.
But the arctic is more than this – as we entered into the ice strewn sea the air was full of snap, crackle and pop as the bubbles in the ice popped away as they melted in the Arctic summer sun. We cruised along in the zodiacs surrounded by this rice crispy moment with everybody quiet as we listened to this living ice all around us.
And there is so much more that is the Arctic – I’ll save that for another day….
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