Polar bears & Zodiac cruising
Following the light breeze of this early morning, we sailed into Raudfjorden, going from one ice flow to the other until we reached the edge of the fast ice.
As the ship is finding a stationary position along the ice, the expedition team had already spotted two polarbears, probably a mating couple, another and a cub and a lonely polarbear in the far distance. Breakfast had not been served yet, but we could already enjoy the sighting of these five majestic creatures through the binoculars, as well as some minke whales surfacing close to the ship.
As we were observing these bears living their lives on the ice, another one was spotted far away on the pack ice walking towards the inside of the fjord. As soon as we understood his goal, which was the opposite coast from the ship, we jumped into our floating suites, got into the Zodiac, and started to make our way towards the coastline.
From the distance, we could see this beautiful mammal walking along the ice until he found what we first thought was a rock. However, we were surprised that it was dragged by the polar bear and floated on the water. We were then not sure whether it was a large seal or a dead walrus, but we chose the latter when we saw that the polar bear could not get its sharp teeth through the skin of the floating blob. The polar bear tried to grab it and bring it up on land, but without much success. We were lucky to observe this interesting behavior for a while before heading back to the ship for a well-deserved lunch and another afternoon full of exciting adventures
Thérèse Horntrich
Guide och expeditionsledareRelated trips
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Svalbard Adventure 2024
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Destinations
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Since 1999, we have taken travellers on once-in-a-lifetime trips to Svalbard. From May to September our three small expedition ships, carrying only 12 and 50 passengers, explore this magnificent Arctic archipelago. Unpredictability and flexibility are the main keywords when you travel with PolarQuest as the exact route depends on weather, ice conditions and wildlife encounters. Sometimes you might be woken up in the middle of the night if a polar bear has been spotted on the ice.